Ireland the best in the world? Right now, yes
The ingredients for a Friday column after the Saturday night before?
Accumulate the evidence, let it simmer, stir and serve with mature reflection.
Except the formula didn’t work so well this week. Dan Carter texted me, raving about Ireland’s defence and discipline, five penalties to New Zealand’s 11.
I went to Racing 92 on Monday night and the lads there were agog at the game and Ireland’s performance to win it.
France v Argentina, they shrugged, just didn’t compare. Different levels.
Perhaps my initial assessment leaving the Aviva Stadium wasn’t as off-kilter as I’d feared: that at no stage did I feel Ireland would lose the game.
That they are, at this moment, the best side in the world.
And that, best/worst of all, I got to a stage Saturday night where I was telling myself Ireland will have to under-perform not to win next year’s World Cup.
It’s the first time I’ve ever had such a gut reaction.
Five days and a lot of thinking since has changed little. It was like New Zealand were in green and Ireland were in black.
It’s relevant for perspective to point out the All Blacks were disappointing. There were moments, for sure.
Beauden Barrett played well, especially in the first half, but if he puts that kick in behind for Ben Smith into the in-goal area, the winger gets there before Peter O’Mahony and goes in for the try. Barrett had another 20m to play with.
That aside, it was a chastening night for New Zealand rugby at both macro and micro level. They are going to have to review how they defend.
Jacob Stockdale’s try was a move straight off the training ground, but there’s no overlap for the All Blacks to deal with.
Of course, it’s an exquisite finish from a winger who showed serious balls to back himself after being charged down by Kieran Read not long beforehand.
But look at Ben Smith’s defending and the way he takes himself out of the equation because he’s been taught since he was young to watch the man.
Except ‘the man’ in this instance was Rory Best, who isn’t going to beat him for pace on the outside. Smith had to be watching the ball.
If he stays back 15 metres, he catches the ball on the full. But in the event, he shuts down the space way too quickly because the threat in that moment was the ball in Stockdale’s hands – let’s be fair, Rory Best is no Sean Cronin.
Smith made the decision for Stockdale by closing space. Maybe we should have expected that from McKenzie or Ioane but not from Smith.
He left way too much green grass behind him. In the review, I am sure he’s been told, ‘drop even 10 metres, and you catch the ball on the full’.
Beauden Barrett had an impressive first 40, when he was at his most authoritative in terms of game management, but the notes in red marker will underline that Damien McKenzie won’t start at 15 again when it matters. Maybe Barrett will.
McKenzie just doesn’t rule the air enough.
Steve Hansen will look at the composition of his back three in the face of what the likes of Ireland will bring with the boot.
George Bridge wasn’t on this tour, and the likes of Jordie Barrett and Waisake Naholo from the Highlanders will be looked at in 2019, I’d imagine.
Brodie Retallick was fourth best second row on the night, which I don’t think I’ve ever thought possible before.
Of course, it’s better these things occur a year out from the World Cup, but it’s also lazy to presume everything will right itself for the All Blacks in 2019.
If you were to take a cold hard look at what we witnessed in Dublin, there has to be a conversation whether this side has plateaued a year too soon. There was a worrying lack of variety in attack, all one-out runners.
The game has been described since as an epic, and for sure it was high-level stuff, but doesn’t the dominance ebb and flow in epic games?
Let’s call this: Ireland monopolised the game.
The only players one could argue might have changed the course of the game in Dublin are Sonny Bill Williams and Joe Moody, who was a big loss on the night with Karl Tu’inukuafe getting a pummelling in the front row by Tadhg Furlong.
Maybe there’s also a call between Liam Squire and Scott Barrett but after that, you were looking for something or somebody to electrify them.
Take out the opening four minutes and all you have in terms of New Zealand pressure on Ireland was the final ten when they were chasing redemption.
It was interesting to read Cian Healy say the Irish players expected to win. It was as if the Irish lads believe they have New Zealand’s measure now.
In this column, we’ve consistently alluded to the intangible advantages of being at home, but the Ireland players still had to surmount the psychological barrier of knowing that November 17 was the date they had all circled in their heads since last January.
And with it came the sense, I am sure, that they needed to win this game to legitimately entertain in their thought space the prospect of winning the World Cup.
This was the game.
The funny thing is that with all the talk of Joe Schmidt, he was probably third in the kudos stakes for Ireland’s coaching team on Saturday after Greg Feek and Andy Farrell.
New Zealand’s scrum is very, very strong but for the first 50 minutes, it got dismantled. In France they have a saying which translates to ‘no scrum, no win’.
Front five on front five was a wipe-out - it gave Ireland penalties, gave them control of how they launched their attacks, and, consequently, restricted New Zealand’s attack.
You are sitting there at pitch level thinking, ‘Feek must be some coach’.
And then Andy Farrell. You can have all the systems but go back a week to the Argentina game and you have a bizarre situation where Rory Best and Cian Healy were your two last defenders.
On that day, so many things are going wrong systematically and you’re wondering where are the backs, how have we arrived in this messy situation?
With a proper week’s work in between, Ireland are winning all the collisions… well, nearly all the collisions. Farrell has done immense work, and not just last week.
There were one or two New Zealand half-breaks but even then they made uncharacteristic errors for a team with such levels of patience and self-belief.
Ireland were at such a perfect pitch. The front row was immense.
In James Ryan, we could be witnessing the early stages of a freakishly successful career.
How he was not nominated for world breakthrough player of the year I don’t know.
CJ carried hard and often (20 times) and had an immense night but I am still trying to get to grips with the display of Peter O’Mahony.
He’s that extra bit fitter now. That’s important. I think he might have had a look at himself over the past year, taken some views on board and gone away and made the difference himself.
He was head and shoulders above every player on the pitch last Saturday and look what was on that pitch! It’s so rare at this elite level for one player to have so many big moments.
Then consider Josh van der Flier, who on the eve of the Argentina game was probably third choice seven. It’s squad depth to a very impressive level.
And all without Conor Murray. Joe’s system is so strong now that it doesn’t matter who is in the jersey, it works and he get results.
Backing the process completely. Bundee Aki looks to have laminated himself into that 12 jersey, but it’s also significant to observe how the boys react to him.
He is an energiser. I was at pitch level for the game and it was also interesting to hear Garry Ringrose calling for the ball, taking pressure off Johnny.
He does the simple things really well, but all that adds crucially to the team.
Maybe Joe will look at Henshaw for 15. The full back position has now become the most watched Irish jersey.
Rob Kearney is going to be your World Cup banker, but with the amounts of miles he has on the clock, Ireland’s campaign will need alternatives be they Andrew Conway, Robbie Henshaw, Jordan Larmour, or Will Addison, who gets the start there tomorrow against America.
Don’t eliminate Larmour from such considerations yet — he is a smart young player who will have taken plenty from the Argentina game.
Joe Schmidt’s confirmation next week of his plans post-2019 World Cup will prove the pre-Christmas show-stopper either way.
If he didn’t have the New Zealand job tagged and bagged before the weekend, he certainly has first dibs on it now.
It was more the manner of the Ireland victory than the actual result which will have resonated with the NZRU.
If the indications are that Joe will go back to New Zealand, Farrell delivered some audition to be the next man in charge last Saturday.
Or perhaps Stuart Lancaster comes into the Joe role and Andy stays where he is.
Who knows?
