Three weeks in a row now, Ireland have stood at the altar of achievement on their summer tour, but each time they came close to tying the knot, something or other got in their way. Yesterday against Australia at the Subiaco Oval, they had a sniff of opportunity after Ronan O'Gara and Neil Best scored tries in the first ten minutes of the second half but it wasn't enough. The home side's continuity and invention saw them carve up Ireland with two crucial tries in a five minute spell and from being 15-11 in front, the tourists were ten points behind and all but finished.

From there the auld legs gave way and the Wallabies . . .

whom both Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Driscoll believe to be better than the All Blacks right now . . . tagged on two further tries to rub Ireland's nose in things a little bit.

"The score line was very harsh at the end of the night, " said O'Sullivan. "We were well in the game after our two tries at the start of the second but we got dealt two sucker punches in the space of five minutes and it was difficult to pick ourselves up after that.

Overall I think we've had two and a half good performances on tour." Two and a half good performances but they're still waiting at the altar.