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DUBLIN - Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock has turned up the heat on Ireland ahead of tomorrow's highly-anticipated Test at Lansdowne Road, declaring the home team is under pressure to back up last week's record-breaking win over South Africa.
The Irish are chasing only their second back-to-back successes against southern hemisphere giants after downing the Springboks 32-15 and, in a rugby rarity, will start as bookmakers' favourites against the touring Australians.
"This Irish team certainly has a lot of confidence. That being said, the Irish public have expectation on them. That could be a two-folded issue," Mortlock said.
"Hopefully from our end, if we go out there and start out really positively and put a lot of pressure back on them, that can work in our favour.
"It's a pretty important match for both teams. From our end, it's a fair yardstick of where we're at. Ireland is a team that is in exceptional form at the moment, but there's a lot of pressure on them.
"So it should be a massive Test match."
Arctic winds greeted the Wallabies for their final training session before tomorrow's 4pm (local time) kick-off - and Mortlock couldn't have been more pleased.
"It was a good opportunity to get used to it and familiarise ourselves with the conditions," he said, mindful that another cold, wet and windy day is forecast.
"I'm very happy with the way the team's prepared, but one thing we've learnt this year is it's not just about preparation but making sure that on game day our heads are on and we turn up ready to play."
The Wallabies have lost hooker Brendan Cannon, who has withdrawn from the match with a neck strain, but Mortlock was confident Tai McIsaac would prove a worthy replacement.
"It hasn't been much of a disruption because Tai's been training a lot with the team, but obviously it's a bitter disappointment for Canno," he said.
"It's a great opportunity for Tai. He gives us a lot of solidity around that set piece area - lineout and scrummage time."
A feature of the match will be Mortlock and Lote Tuqiri's midfield battle with Ireland's dynamic centre pairing of Gordon D'Arcy, man of the match against the Springboks, and captain Brian O'Driscoll, widely considered the best No.13 in world rugby.
"D'Arcy and O'Driscoll have been in great form the last number of years and Lote and myself are very much looking forward to the prospect of hopefully giving them a run for their money," Mortlock said.
"In attack, we've been going pretty well. The combination seems to be happening quite well. Obviously defence is the key. That's going to be a key focus for us and making sure we're on song there.
"I've got no doubt the attack will take care of itself."
- AAP
