Ronan O'Gara: Peering through the haze of Irish euphoria

In top level sport, the margins are small. Ireland should ponder that only for a marginal forward pass and a great stop from James Lowe, they could have lost the game

Joey Carberry watches his penalty kick drop through the posts against New Zealand. Ireland have a lot to be proud of but there’s a long way to go before the World Cup. Picture: Getty Images

It isn't necessarily the prospect of back-to-back Test defeats — that happened only a year ago with Australia and Argentina — but for many other peculiarly New Zealand reasons, Saturday night’s France-All Blacks game in Paris has a very important feel about it.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster has been getting it in the neck back home after the defeat to Ireland, from the security of his own position to the lack of subtlety in their game to questions over the very fabric of how the All Blacks play rugby.