Autumn Nations Series: Ireland 13 New Zealand 23
Except for a brief period when going ahead early in the second half, there was scarcely a whiff of revenge for that quarter-final in Paris. There the All Blacks ended Ireland’s 17-match winning run in a captivating contest, here they were more deserving winners. In doing so, they ended Ireland’s 19-match winning run at home on what was a strangely subdued night in the Aviva.
The All Blacks having played nine Tests since Ireland’s win in Durban, including two in the last fortnight, it was always likely that they would be the more match-hardened even with a six-day turnaround, albeit Ireland might have an edge in fitness. The former proved truer than the latter.
For much of the first half the All Blacks had the majority of the possession, territory and carries. Ireland threatened to catch fire, not least when Jamison Gibson-Park was buzzing or Ronan Kelleher, Caelan Doris and Bundee Aki were on the ball, but a spillage or turnover stymied any momentum.
There were actually several big individual performances, not least by the tireless Andrew Porter and Gibson-Park, whose combined work-rate was astonishing, but the attack floundered on errors and, unusually, seemed to lose shape after a few phases.
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Hence, for once Ireland did not hit the ground running at the start of a new international window but instead looked rusty, their attack flickering rather than flourishing.
Whatever Andy Farrell said at half-time briefly had a desired effect, his players upping their intensity and energy levels even more, especially in their counter-rucking. But it came at a cost, namely the procession of breakdown penalties against them in a damaging 13-5 penalty count.
By contrast, the All Blacks drew increasing belief from the home errors, the plethora of penalties, the largely unerring boot of Damian McKenzie in landing six penalties and ultimately they defied the slippery pill with both the bigger carries in contact and the slicker handling.
During the typically lengthy prematch preamble for an Ireland-New Zealand game – a presidential greeting, three songs and the haka – heavy rain could be seen through the beams of the floodlights, which would make the ball very greasy.
Initially the haka was afforded silence – well, until the crowd realised Reiko Ioane was leading it anyway. But the sight of the Irish team inching forward before forming a huddle provoked a huge roar.
So too, soon after Damian MacKenzie’s kick-off, did Andrew Porter charged down Cortez Ratima’s box kick, all the more so when Will Jordan then fumbled his attempted pickup.
Yet the crowd was curiously becalmed, despite an opening penalty by Jack Crowley when Jordie Barrett was pinged in the new clampdown on clocking chasers, although this was cancelled out by MacKenzie when Finlay Bealham was harshly penalised for not rolling away, not least as he was injured.
Soon though, the All Blacks put together the game’s most sustained attacking rugby. Despite Garry Ringrose emptying Ioane (that was a popular one) the Irish defence was scrambling; Hugo Keenan making a vital covering tackle on Mark Tele’a and the fullback’s trust in Gibson-Park was vindicated by his tackle on the fleet-footed MacKenzie.
When the All Blacks opted for the corner Asafo Aumua’s throw was crooked and when the visitors took another three points it felt almost like a result for Ireland. In echoes of that quarter-final, the Irish lineout leaded a second lost throw and both Tadgh Beirne and James Ryan were pinged in turn at the breakdown as the All Blacks’ armoury of heavy carriers was forcing Ireland on to the back foot as MacKenzie made it 9-3 after an indirect scrum penalty for a delayed feed to an unstable scrum was questioned by Gibson-Park and Caelan Doris.
Otherwise, the Irish scrum was rock solid.
What’s more, when the lineout clicked and Gibson-Park fed Aki in midfield his footwork pierced the black line, with Ringrose in support before Rónan Kelleher rumbled off the recycle. On review though, Jordie Barrett was seen to catch Ringrose’s jaw with his left shoulder and incurred a yellow card and a bunker review for a red.
Crowley also kicked the penalty to reduce the All Blacks’ lead to 9-6 at half-time which given the 7-4 penalty count against Ireland, and the visitors’ majority of possession and territory actually wasn’t a bad outcome.
Despite thousands of empty seats when the match resumed, those that remained were fully on board. Another penalty for crossing from another hanging restart by Crowley was tapped into the corner, Ireland’s urgency heightened by confirmation that Jordie Barrett’s yellow would not be upgraded.
Although the lineout was lost Aki, with a little help from James Lowe, held up Sam Cane over the line.
Doris charged off the base from the resulting scrum and Ireland cranked up their power game. Ringrose, Ryan, Porter (with a lovely step) and Beirne charged hard, before Josh van der Flier took reached out for the line.
But the breakdown penalties undid another attack and led to two penalty attempts from distance by MacKenzie. The first made it a one-point game. The second, after a couple of encouraging defensive sets by Ireland, hit the post; Gibson-Park clearing and following up to force a scrum.
With that Ciarán Frawley came on for Crowley, who had knocked on glaringly, but the replacement would himself spill two high balls and when Tom O’Toole’s HIA prompted a swift return for Finlay Bealham, the latter was pinged by assistant referee Andrea Piardi for MacKenzie to land another mighty punt for a 15-13 lead.
After another Irish attack floundered, cue another breakdown penalty, against Iain Henderson, and another MacKenzie three-pointer. The All Blacks’ confidence was visibly swelling, and demonstrating their superior catch-and-pass skills on the night, they went wide left and wide right – where Keenan was helped by Porter on his inside to again deny Tele’a – before Sititi and Aumua gave Will Jordan an untroubled run to his 37th try in 39 Tests, and fifth in five against Ireland.
That was that really. A Lowe 50/22 revived the crowd’s flagging spirits and a clever strike play launched him up the middle but Ardie Savea won a penalty in the jackal. That rather summed up Ireland’s night.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 8 mins: Crowley pen 3-0; 10: McKenzie pen 3-3; 29: McKenzie pen 3-6; 38: McKenzie pen 3-9; 40: Crowley pen 6-9; Half-time 6-9; 43: Van der Flier try, Crowley con 13-9; 49: McKenzie pen 13-12; 62: McKenzie pen 13-15; 65: McKenzie pen 13-18; 69: Jordan try 13-23.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: R Herring for Kelleher, T O’Toole for Bealham, I Henderson for McCarthy, C Frawley for Crowley (all 57 mins); Bealham for O’Toole (59); P O’Mahony for Ryan, J Osborne for Ringrose (both 69); C Healy for Porter, C Murray for Gibson-Park (both 73).
NEW ZEALAND: Will Jordan; Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke; Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima; Tamaiti Williams, Asafo Aumua, Tyrel Lomax; Scott Barrett (capt), Tupou Vaa’i; Wallace Sititi, Sam Cane, Ardie Savea.
Replacements: C Roigard for Ratima (50 mins); P Tuipulotu for Vaa’i (57); O Tu’ungafasi for Williams, P Tosi for Lomax (both 59); A Lienert-Brown for Clarke (70); S Finau for Cane (72); G Bell for Aumua.
Yellow card: J Barrett (40 mins).
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia).
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