Australia v Ireland: rugby union international – live!

3 min: Australia build the phases, but without necessarily a lot of penetration. 8 phases in and they’re more or less still 40m out.

Foley tries a chip and chase but the Irish defence beats Folau to the contest. Kearney anticipates and claims, good work from the veteran fullback.

2 min: Ach, a disappointing start for the late replacement hooker, as Scannell is pinged for a lineout throw that’s deemed not straight.

Australia pack a scrum about 40m out from the Irish line.

A lovely welcome to country, to Cadigal/Gadigal land, and Damien Leith (remember him?!) offers a stirring rendition of Ireland’s Call. Idol winner from 2006 Wikipedia tells me, wow does time fly.

The anthem is impeccably observed - plenty of green shirts in the crowd in Sydney, not surprisingly. And so too is the home anthem, sung by Prinnie Stevens. I love it when they go up the octave at the end. I also love it when they hit the note too, but hey beggars can’t be choosers.

And without further ado, here we go!

A pre-game musing from John McEnerney:

Some might argue the bigger statement has already been made in the Six Nations, especially given England’s emphatic June series down under (and subsequent demise); but it’s a good shout on the importance of the result in the context of a long season. If Ireland do go down tonight, freshness may very well be a key factor.

We’ve got our teams heading out onto the field - kickoff won’t be too far away!

A nice moment pre-game, with Australia’s Rugby Sevens captain James Stannard receiving a lovely acknowledgement to his services to the game.

As you might recall he recently announced his retirement following a ‘coward punch’ attack that sadly ended his career ahead of next month’s World Cup.

Nice to see him able to share this moment with his family, by the look of it he’s got Dad’s noggin.

Here’s what the two coaches had to say pre-game, as reported by Paul Rees:

Michael Cheika:

“We have been looking at a few different things for sure. We can counter their blocking and everything like that with better kicks and a few different things they are not ready for.

“Everything will be on the line. We will be less conservative than we were in the first two matches. It is a grand final and you can’t win it without scoring tries and playing footy. Ireland did well last week to stop us doing that and we are intent on opening up this week.”

Joe Schmidt:

“Guys have every right to come back directly onside and we just worked a bit harder getting back.” (on shutting down Folau)

“You know when Israel wins the ball you have to get someone in behind it. Australia will have the same urgency: it is part of the intensity of a Test match.”

And scarcely have I fired out the team news and we’re got an erratum (sic?) to update.

Cronin is a late scratching; Scannell comes in to replace him.

First things first; some team news.

Australia:

As mentioned in the Preamble, the biggest change for the Wallabies is the loss of Will Genia, and subsequent starting berth for Nick Phipps.

Lukhan Tui is the other new face, coming in at No6 which sees David Pocock shuffle across the backline, and Caleb Timu drop out of the squad all together. There’s no start for Taniela Tupou whose had a strong influence off the bench in games one and two, but he’ll start from the pine once more, where Michael Cheika has again named a 6-2 bench.

Ireland:

Injuries have forced Joe Schmidt to shuffle a little more than perhaps he would have liked, with Dan Leavy, Garry Ringrose and Andrew Conway all in the treatment room.

In their stead comes Jack Conan at No8, with Bundee Aki in the centres after shaking off an ankle niggle and Jacob Stockdale back on the wing. Not too shabby a replacement given the season he’s had, with the 22-year-old telling media he’s worked hard on his aerial defence after missing game two.

There’s a rare start for Sean Cronin (53 of his 62 caps have come off the bench) who will look to make amends for his game two axing, with Jack McGrath also returning to the front row to mark his 100th Test.

So five changes in all; less than the eight we saw for game two with Joe Schmidt still tinkering with his squad with the forthcoming World Cup presumably in mind.

Hi all! I hope this finds you well from wherever around the world you’re following this coverage.

Remarkably it’s the first ever time Australia and Ireland have engaged in a three-Test series, so perhaps that adds extra bragging rights tonight.

I’m Richard Parkin, your host for the evening, and if you incidentally would like to earn bragging rights of your own, don’t forget to join our live coverage by sending through your best stats, quips or general feel-pinions. Via email (richard.parkin.casual@theguardian.com) or twitter (@rrjparkin) or feel free to just comment below-the-line. Imagine this blog as one big happy train ride, rather dry if you’re all just looking at your phones, and exponentially better when the carriage is rocking with sea shanties. Join in!