Irish skipper Brian O’Driscoll is hoping his side can end a 31 year wait for a win on Australian soil when they conclude their summer tour against the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
O’Driscoll is looking to make it lucky 13 against Australia having won three times and drawn another in his previous 12 Tests against them for Ireland and the British & Irish LionsIreland haven't won a Test against the Wallabies on Australian soil since 1979 and haven't tasted victory this year since beating Wales in March.
They were beaten at home by Scotland in their final RBS 6 Nations outing, then fell to the Barbarians in Limerick in an uncapped match, were given a record 66-28 beating by New Zealand and then went down to the New Zealand Maori in another uncapped game.
Irish coach Declan Kidney has made five changes to the side that lost in New Plymouth two weeks ago for the Aussie Test and O’Driscoll wants to sign off the season on a high note against an Australian team still smarting from their one point defeat by England in Sydney last weekend.
“We haven't won since 1979 – it's a long time to not pick up a result and it just shows the difficulty we've had down here,” said O’Driscoll, who made his Irish debut in Brisbane on 12 June, 1999 in a game the Wallabies won 46-10.
“We feel that we have the capabilities if we play to our strengths and play the way we know we can. Needless to say it'll be an extremely tough test match, it always is against Australia."
"But the next opportunity is the best one to take and try to overturn the slide of defeats. It'll take a big effort, but I know the capabilities of this squad and team and it's certainly within our grasp.”
O’Driscoll has tried, and failed, to beat Australia five times Down Under, while his only success against the Walalbies in their own backyard came in the first Test of the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour when he scored a try in Brisbane in a 29-13 victory. The Wallabies hit back to win the series 2-1.
