Brian O’Driscoll praises Ireland and crowd support after historic win over Wallabies in World Cup encounter
Ireland national rugby union captain, Brian O’Driscoll, has praised the efforts of his team’s players and the Auckland crowd for their support during their 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) encounter
against the Wallabies.
O’Driscoll made the comments at the end of their Pool C encounter with the Wallabies, which was played at the Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday, September 17. Ireland delivered the first upset
of the tournament as they handed over a 15 – 6 defeat to one of the RWC favourties, Wallabies.
Ireland entered the match as the underdogs, following their poor build up to the global tournament. Ireland lost all four of their pre-world cup matches and their performance in the 2011 RWC
opener was below par.
Irish captain O’Driscoll added that the team had a self believe that can deliver the upsetting performance. He said, “It was the performance we knew we had in us.” He has expressed his delight
with the results. He praised his team’s strong performance, in which they kept the 2011 Tri Nations winners Wallabies, under pressure and denied them easy chances or any sort of momentum.
O’Driscoll further has praised the support they received at the Eden Park. He said, “Absolutely incredible support and it was our job to give them something to shout about and thankfully we
did.”
O’Driscoll termed the atmosphere at the ground similar to the one at Dublin, as 58000 attendees rock the stadium with their roar and chanting. He said, “We swear we were in Dublin with that
crowd.”
Irish captain added that his team will not sit back and relax after achieving this big win. He added, “We have two wins and two more to get so, as much as we'll enjoy this, let's not lose sight
there are two more games.”
Ireland is currently leading the Pool C with eight points courtesy of their two wins coming from their two 2011 RWC matches so far.
Ireland will play their two remaining pool matches against the Italy and the Russia respectively.
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