The Wallabies have ensured Ireland will return home from its tour winless, but their 22-15 victory in front of 45,498 at Suncorp Stadium came in an unpolished and ill-disciplined performance.
The Australians ran in two tries, both in the second half, with scrum-half Luke Burgess scoring an intercept try and fly-half Quade Cooper crossing over after a skilful individual run on the stroke of half-time.
The Irish were held scoreless in the second stanza, and despite their best efforts were unable to grab a try in the contest; all 15 of their points came from the accurate boot of Jonathan Sexton.
Both sides had hinted at an attacking approach to the game, but it wasn’t until late in the second half that either backline was able to find real space.
For the Australians, skipper Rocky Elsom was typically strong, while Drew Mitchell and Kurtley Beale missed opportunities to impress in the backs.
After trailing for the majority of the first half, the Wallabies snatched a 16-15 lead going into the break, courtesy of Cooper’s attacking flair; the Queensland Reds star created something from nothing as he danced his way through an invisible gap well after the siren.
Earlier, the Australians had first use of the ball, but it was the Irish who had the first points on the board when Sexton sunk a penalty in the second minute, after Cooper was judged offside by referee Lawrence.
The chance to level the scores came just minutes later for the Aussies, but after a scratchy performance with the boot against England last weekend it appeared Matt Giteau’s radar was still out and his kick from directly in front sailed left of the uprights.
An intercept from Rob Horne was called back for a knock-on, but from the scrum Luke Burgess made it second time lucky with an intercept of his own to run in the first try of the match and give the Wallabies their first lead.
The Wallabies were forced to shuffle their backline with the resumption of the second half, sending Kurtley Beale into fullback, Adam Ashley-Cooper to centre and James O’Connor to the wing, after their starting outside centre Rob Horne was forced out with a gluteal strain.
Unfortunately for Beale, his first significant contribution for the Australians was not a good one; with space out wide and the try line almost within reach, the Waratahs star opted for to send in a grubber that steamed over the backline.
Play was eventually called back and Giteau registered his first successful kick of the match to give the Wallabies first-blood in the second half.
As the contest began to open up for the first time, the Wallaby backline showed signs of clicking into gear, but once again, a penalty conceded by the Irish close to the line ensured the points continued to accumulate in threes.
The Australians continued to attack in the late stages of the second half, but regular handling mistakes stopped them from increasing the lead in the low-scoring second half.