By Bernard Jackman

Can Ireland complete a November series clean sweep by doing a job on Australia (live RTÉ2, 4.30pm). I think it's possible, but Ireland must adapt their game plan for what will be a very different challenge compared to South Africa.

On that tactical level, this match is particularly interesting because it brings Michael Cheika and Joe Schmidt together and they are the two most successful Leinster coaches in history.

We know all about Joe's qualities, but Cheika is another formidable operator. I was lucky enough to work under him for five seasons at Leinster and saw first hand how he can change a team culture and ultimately deliver big results.

It did not happen at Stade Francais in the first job took on after Leinster as he was not given enough time. But he did spectacularly well over two years at the Waratahs, guiding them to the top of the Super 15 table in the 2014 regular season before delivering their first Super Rugby title with victory over the Crusaders in the 2014 final.

Cheika is not the same type of coach as Schmidt in that he is less of a technician and not as 'hands on'. But be under no illusions about what he can contribute for Australia. He has incredible passion for rugby and uses his business experience to ensure that every area under his control maximizes its contribution to the success of the team.

Australia have had some issues and I think he is the ideal man to knock this group into shape. Cheika will take the focus away from off-field issues and put it back firmly on on-field achievement.

He is also shrewd tactically. He likes to play a high tempo running game, but he fundamentally believes that rugby games at the highest level are won by the team that dominates up front and wins collisions.

He is only in the Australia job a few weeks and I think it will be 2015 before the Wallaby game plan will be completely synched with his philosophy.

Even so, Australia present a huge challenge for Ireland this weekend. The individual talent in their squad, particularly in the back line, is massive. Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridriani, Henry Speight are all quality players while Israel Folau is, in my view, the best in the world in terms of his ability to influence by dominating the aerial battle, beating defenders and scoring tries.

In Focus: Israel Folau



What can we expect from Australia?

Against Wales and France, the Wallabies used their forwards to carry hard around the ruck and waited for mis-matches. When they do make a positive carry they are brilliant at flooding through in support and keeping the ball alive (see below).

Defensively they have been a little bit off their normal high standards and have been conceding a lot of points. They've tended to get caught out when defending in multi-phase situations at midfield rucks. I think it is because they get over-aggressive and leave ‘dog-legs’ for the attack to play into and through.

They have also had problems in the fringes. Solidity in that area around the ruck is the foundation of any good defence but lately, Australia have been slow to get set and both France and Wales scored tries directly as a result of this weakness.

Australia's attack: players flooding through

What about Ireland? We went in a little bit under the radar against South Africa but the level of expectation and hype has rocketed after that victory and the try-fest against the Georgians.

The Irish coaches are trying to keep a dampener on that and have spoken about the only important thing being continuous improvement.

Personally, I think that a win would really validate the quality work that is obviously getting done on the training ground.

Victory would validate Ireland's progress

On the personnel side Ireland are still operating without some of their best players, but Rory Best and Gordon D’Arcy come into the starting team and their experience and quality are vital boosts.

Can Ireland manage the hype, keep a lid on those brilliant attackers and take advantage of any Australian weaknesses?

Tactically they need to change things up. The game plan against the Springboks was to try and avoid set-piece confrontations with the South African forwards and to kick the ball a lot.

I doubt that Ireland will repeat that this weekend.

Kicking to Folau will only get you in trouble as even if it is a contestable he has the best spring of any player in the world ,while as a group, the Australians are much more dangerous in unstructured attacking situations than the Boks.

We must limit their opportunities to attack from counter-attack and turnover situations.

The target should instead be the Australian pack, which I think is there for the taking.

Ireland’s breakdown work is really efficient at the moment and while we are missing really dynamic ball carriers like Cian Healy and Sean O’Brien, we can make up for that through our precision and understanding of our own system of attack.

We need to get Conor Murray attacking around the ruck with the Irish forwards running smart lines of support to punch holes in their front line.

Ireland: victory in tight battles can open up wide areas

If we can win gain-line battles in close there will then be opportunities to use the wide channels and bring Simon Zebo, Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney into the game with ball in hand.

Ireland’s lineout and maul have also been excellent this November and they should also be used as a major weapon.

There is a small doubt over the Irish scrum after it underperformed massively in the Springboks match. The hope is that with Mike Ross having two games under his belt it can step up and we can use it as a way of milking penalties.

As against South Africa, the performances of the opposition half-backs will be key. Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley have had brilliant Super Rugby seasons, but Test rugby in Europe in November is a different story and they do not as much experience of the conditions as Murray and Jonathan Sexton.

If our half-backs can control the tempo and generate better field position than their counterparts, I expect our forwards to win their individual and collective battles and be the key difference in winning us the match and justifying Ireland’s third place in the IRB World Rankings.