Battle of the flyhalves | Australia vs Ireland
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The battle of the flyhalves will always be a big talking point in a match as they control the tempo on attack, organise the defence and can be the difference between winning and losing with one point. Ben Donaldson had the oppertunity in the 80th minute to hand Australia a one point victory over Ireland but he pushed his kick to the right.
Lets look at how Donaldson, Sam Prendergast and Carter Gordon performed.
Match stats
| Sam Prendergast | Carter Gordon | Ben Donaldson | |
| Min played | 80min | 57min | 23min |
| Tackles made | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Tackles missed | 6 | ` | 1 |
| Goal kicking | 80% | 60% | 0% |
| Passes | 35 | 17 | 9 |
Prendergast can be happy with his kicking to touch, restarts and distrubution. He did throw a short pass that was intercepted but one can say he made 95% the correct decision on attack. Australia did target him on defence as he missed six tackles.
Gordon left the field in the 57th minute with a leg injury but he was on fire on attack. He made a break early in the first half and linked up very well with his centres.
Donaldson will remember this match for the two penalties he missed. One must add the first one was on the touch line and the second one 40 meters on on the 5. He was steady on attack but Australia needs someone who can kick their goals.
