Australia v Ireland: Kearney ready to 'throw everything' at series decider

Ireland's Rob Kearney in action against Australia centre Kurtley Beale

Ireland are treating Saturday's decider against Australia as a cup final as they aim to end their Grand Slam season with a first southern hemisphere series win since 1979, says Rob Kearney.

They beat the Wallabies 26-21 in Melbourne to level the series and are preparing for the third Test in Sydney.

"It's the last game of the season so there is literally no holding back for anything," said the Ireland full-back.

"We can give every ounce of energy we have and it's just all guns blazing."

Kearney is already his country's most decorated player but wants to secure one more piece of history before signing off on a trophy-laden season with Ireland and Champions Cup and Pro14 winners Leinster.

"We're into a final now - and not that we don't do that anyway - but there's something about the last game of the season where you throw everything into it to win," he added.

Melbourne win ends 39-year drought

Joe Schmidt's Six Nations champions ended a 39-year wait for an Irish win over the Wallabies on Australian soil when they last won a series beneath the equator and, while Kearney appreciated the significance, he said that this squad were expecting to bounce back after their loss in the first test in Brisbane.

"It does feel like an incredible achievement," he said. "There are so many guys coming into the squad now who are part of this new breed who just expect to win a little bit, but we understand how difficult it is to win down here.

"But this team has some pretty high expectations of ourselves and the way we want to go on and achieve. We're certainly not surprised to be going into the series decider in the final week.

"Going to Sydney for a dead rubber would have been grim, 2-0 down next week. It was a much better performance to get the win and go onto a series decider."

Australia fly-half Bernard Foley says his side will embrace the prospect of a series decider in front of a sell-out crowd in Sydney

Although disappointed with his side's inability to close out the series in the second game, Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley is excited about the prospect of a grand finale at the sold-out 45,500 capacity Allianz Stadium venue.

"It's a decider - we would've liked to have sealed it up in two, but to come back to a decider in Sydney and a sell-out crowd in front of our home fans is something we're just going to have to really embrace, really enjoy," he said.

"They're all world-class players. They didn't get to number two in the world for no reason.

"We're well aware that they're all quality players, capable players and if we give them enough possession in the right end of the field, they're going to be a dangerous side.

"For us, it's nullifying that, nullifying how much time and space they can have and on the flipside, when we're holding the ball we can hold that for sustained periods and keep the pressure on."

Having lost Will Genia for the final game, Australia got some good news overnight as scans revealed Adam Coleman had not fractured his cheekbone as first feared.