Ireland rue luck on ‘wheel’ of misfortune
For the most part, the scrum had been an even contest on a bitterly cold night in Christchurch, but when All Blacks tight head Owen Franks left the field to be replaced by his brother Ben approaching the hour mark, the balance of power at the coalface shifted completely.
Mike Ross, back with a bang after missing the opening Test in Auckland, began to put the squeeze on Tony Woodcock while the older Franks brother struggled big time on his introduction to the battle.
So when referee Nigel Owens awarded an All Blacks scrum in the 74th minute, the Irish pack had a right to feel confident — they had just demolished their opponents at the previous two engagements.
Alas, Owens made a call that will be debated for many as a year as he penalised Ross and his team-mates for allegedly “wheeling” the scrum when they seemingly had the advantage at the set-piece once more.
The rest, as they say, is history as New Zealand marched down the field and, after a failed first effort, Dan Carter stood in the pocket and blasted over a drop goal to break Irish hearts and prolong a barren 107-year losing streak.
It’s worth remembering that Ireland did have their chance to take the lead, only for Jonathan Sexton’s 72nd-minute long-range penalty to drop short of the posts, but the visitors still had a right to feel robbed after Saturday night’s result.
It was a cruel end to a valiant and outstanding Irish effort in arguably the closest contest between these two sides in history.
“It was a tight call,” said Kidney on the controversial late penalty. “That was what he had to do. It’s gone against us. There’s not a lot I can say. We’re obviously disappointed.
“We were on top. We had them in those two [earlier scrums] and then in that one we had them turned in towards touch.
“They were corralled in there and their scrum went around a bit, was it 90 degrees? We got a nudge on… deemed to be us wheeling it.
“Was it us wheeling it, or them [New Zealand] not holding it up? I’m sure it’s an area they will look to improve on next week.”
Kidney’s troops were written off as mere cannon fodder for the world champions after the largely bloodless coup in Auckland.
The second bout in Christchurch proved to be a different contest altogether with Ireland shocking the home side with their aggression and energy.
Kidney had fielded an experimental line-up at Eden Park, but reverted to type for the second showdown with several of the recalled players justifying their selections, with Kevin McLaughlin and Gordon D’Arcy putting in huge shifts.
There had been suggestions in the New Zealand press the captain Brian O’Driscoll had never delivered a world-class performance against the All Blacks.
“You’re asking me about comments during the week… I just ignore them,” said Kidney on the Kiwi media’s criticism of O’Driscoll. “There’s no doubt about that he is a top-class player, top class.
“In fairness to D’Arcy he also had a good game and I would also commend the way Ronan [O’Gara] and Johnny went about their business. “They did a great job. The generosity they showed one another out on the pitch I can’t speak too highly of them.”
There were widespread calls in the lead-up to the Test in Christchurch to recall Eoin Reddan to the No 9 jersey after Conor Murray struggled at the base in the opening encounter.
Kidney stood by the Munster halfback, however, and the Garryowen scrum-half delivered his most accomplished performance in a green shirt to date.
“The confidence he showed there at the start of the game, he’s now starting to learn to play the game rather than play the shape,” said Kidney on the fledgling half-back.
“He took the first try. If you look at it, it was he who was signalling fellas to come around. Somebody came around and he had a half gap and had the courage to go for it.”
It was some turnaround after the debacle in Auckland that’s for sure. The likes of Rob Kearney, Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien and Donnacha Ryan have won many admirers south of the equator for their performances in the past fortnight.
You just wonder if Ireland will have such a good chance to topple the All Blacks on their home turf again, but Kidney was in positive mood ahead of the third and final Test match in Hamilton.
“They will be an infinitely better side,” said Kidney. “Let’s see what happens, they’ll look at new areas to come at us so we have wise enough for that.”
IRELAND: R Kearney; F McFadden, B O’Driscoll (capt), G D’Arcy (R O’Gara 52), A Trimble; J Sexton, C Murray (Eoin Reddan 65); C Healy, R Best, M Ross, D Tuohy (D O’Callaghan 59), D Ryan, K McLaughlin (P O’Mahony 63), S O’Brien, J Heaslip
NEW ZEALAND: I Dagg (sin bin 73); Z Guildford, C Smith, S Bill Williams, J Savea (B Smith 75); D Carter, A Smith (P Weepu 65); T Woodcock, A Hore, O Franks (B Franks 58), B Retallick (A Williams 66), S Whitelock, A Thomson, R McCaw, K Read (S Cane 41)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
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