Ireland ready for 'one of the biggest challenges in rugby'

Ireland skipper Peter O’Mahony believes a series win in Australia would be rank as highly as his team’s Grand Slam success.

The Six Nations champions' 26-21 victory over the Aussies in Melbourne last weekend set up a crucial showdown against the hosts at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.

Hooker Sean Cronin, 32, missed training on the eve of the match and despite the Irish Rugby Football Union insisting his workload is being managed, Munster man Niall Scannell on standby.

Head coach Joe Schmidt is set to name five changes in the line-up for the winner-takes-all finale, should Cronin be selected, with Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Jack Conan and Jack McGrath also set to come into the side.

Saturday's showdown against the Wallabies is the final game of a hugely successful season for the Irish team and captain O'Mahony says his teammates are ready to end an almost 40-year wait for a series win in Australia.

"It has to be right up there," O'Mahony said.

"None of this group has done it. The last time we won a Test here [before last weekend] was 1979, so that says enough of how hard it is to win over here.

"To talk about winning a series over here is up there with one of the biggest challenges in world rugby.

"We want to go and win [on Saturday] but we know we've got to get our process right and our performance is paramount. If we don't put in a good performance, we could be well beaten by 30 or 40 points if we're not on the ball."

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Schmidt said on Thursday that his team would need their best performance of the season to emerge triumphant, and O'Mahony echoed those sentiments.

"We need to build on our performance from last week, and that's the main priority for us," he said.

If Ireland are able to secure victory in Sydney on Saturday, it will be their first series win in Australia since their tour in 1979.