A version of this article was published in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, November 16th 2013.

“Untidy, earnest… some good endeavour but not the accuracy we were looking for.” So spoke Ireland rugby’s new head coach, Joe Schmidt, immediately after his side’s 40-9 win against Samoa. His comments rang true as his Leinster teams were known for doing the attacking basics well, and at pace.

Even in that untidy Irish performance there was a sign of a tactical change from the previous management as Ireland took two lineouts off the top last Saturday. This wouldn’t be a hugely unusual occurrence for a professional rugby team but in the last seven tests under Declan Kidney Ireland had taken just one solitary lineout off the top.

Quick ball is key to effective attacking play in rugby union, and quick ball off the top of a lineout gives the attacking side an opportunity to get the ball moving at speed towards wide open spaces while the defending backs are still 10 metres back on the offside line. It requires plenty of skill on the part of the receiver – high in the air – to take the ball cleanly out of the reach of a jostling opponent and, in one smooth movement, pass that ball cleanly downwards to a teammate who can whip it away.

According to Opta, in Ireland’s June tests against the USA and Canada (under the interim watch of Les Kiss) Ireland took eight lineouts off the top in just two games. Weak opposition notwithstanding, with another two lineouts taken in similar fashion against Samoa and the towering Devin Toner’s inclusion ahead of Mike McCarthy for his fourth consecutive test start this perhaps signals a continuation of a trend.

Rory Best will have four excellent lineout targets at his disposal today in Toner, Jamie Heaslip, Peter O’Mahony and the aerially majestic Paul O’Connell. The Australian lineout, led by James Horwill and Ben Mowen, will be a far more stringent test than the USA, Canada or Samoa. However, Australia have only nabbed a single steal in their last three matches.

In loose play the key battle will be at open side between Sean O’Brien and Michael Hooper. The young Waratahs flanker, still just 22, gets to a huge number of defensive breakdowns and led the 2013 Rugby Championship in breakdown steals. O’Brien’s scavenging at the breakdown will need to be top drawer.

Australia had an ego-bruising summer against the Lions and followed that up with a poor Rugby Championship, albeit brightened at its ending by giving Argentina a good hiding in Rosario. They followed that with losses to New Zealand and England but then came out firing against Italy last week running in seven tries. Flat track bullies, or bullied by referees themselves?

For the past two weeks Australian coach Ewen McKenzie has been talking up his forwards in the media in an effort to get, as he sees it, a fair shake in the scrum. With a starting three of Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross Ireland have the scrummagers to do serious damage to what is an unremarkable Australian front row.

If Ireland were to make hay at the set piece the Australian threat would not necessarily be nullified. The gifted Quade Cooper has been installed as conductor with a richly talented back line at his disposal, and if Ireland’s kicking game is as loose as it was against Samoa the Australian backs – potential game-breakers all – will almost certainly convert those mistakes into points with gleeful efficiency.

Ireland conceded five turnovers to the Samoans from dropped balls. If Joe Schmidt’s team cuts out those errors, kicks cleverly and stops the dangerous Australian backline from getting into a rhythm Ireland could certainly take home the spoils.