Rocky Elsom has praised his former teammate, Brian O'Driscoll, for 'executing' a final move to perfection to deny the Wallabies a win against Ireland at Croke Park on Sunday.

Speaking immediately after the match, the powerful back row admitted that he felt that his team had done enough to win the match but, when the final whistle went, the scoreline was the only evalution of the match which mattered.

"If we had defended that last phase, we would have deserved to win but who would have thought, in his 100th game, Brian [O'Driscoll] would come up with the goods?," said Elsom.

"I thought we could have stopped that last play but they executed really well."

Elsom, along with fellow flank David Pocock and the Wallaby front five, dominated much of the match but, in the end, were reeled in by a passionate and determined Irish side.

The new Australian captain, of course, spent last season playing alongside O'Driscoll at Leinster and, along with the inspirational Irish captain, was a key member of their Heineken Cup-winning team.