All Blacks settle the score with brilliance and brute force
That will not ease the pain, in both mind and body, of Saturday night’s loss to New Zealand as the world champions gained often brutal revenge for their historic first defeat to the Irish in Chicago a fortnight earlier.
Yet the fact the All Blacks felt the need to tone down their irresistibly swashbuckling tendencies and dial up the physicality to sometimes cynical proportions at the Aviva Stadium in order to see off Joe Schmidt’s side and redress the balance between the two nations after Ireland’s heroics in Soldier Field may have been the ultimate compliment in some perverse way.
Having five tries run past them by Ireland in 80 minutes two weeks ago having conceded just five tries in the whole of this year’s Rugby Championship was quite the reality check for New Zealand.
Ending an 18-Test winning streak to a team which had failed to beat them in 28 previous encounters over 111 years was an assault on the All Blacks’ pride. Having poked the bear, to use Schmidt’s phrase, there was bound to be a response.
On Saturday night in Dublin the score was settled, with a mix of brilliance and brute force. In a spellbinding game of stunning intensity, Ireland pushed New Zealand to the limit once more yet never really landed a telling blow, losing by three tries to none despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession and territory and playing the more disciplined rugby.
A yellow card in each half, 14 penalties conceded and a number of high tackles from the All Blacks tell their own story while two of New Zealand’s three tries could easily have been disallowed.
Man-of-the-match Beauden Barrett’s 14th minute score failed to convince anyone at the Aviva other than Television Match Official John Mason of Wales and referee Jaco Peyper of South Africa the world player of the year had clearly grounded the ball under close attention from Sexton, while Peyper denied Ireland captain Rory Best’s request for the TMO to look at a potential forward pass in the build-up to what was otherwise a sublime third try from the world champions.
The natural order may have been restored but over these two games, Ireland have served to remove the veneer of invincibility that had cloaked these All Blacks for so long.
Telling first-half injuries to Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw, Johnny Sexton and CJ Stander, which robbed the home side of key personnel for the bones of an hour could have prefaced a collapse similar to the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, when Argentina ruthlessly exploited a side missing Sexton, Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony, Jared Payne and the suspended Sean O’Brien.
Thirteen months on and Saturday’s losses were minimised by the assured performances of replacements Garry Ringrose, Paddy Jackson and Josh van der Flier, all of whom continued to take the game to the visitors.
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen acknowledged as much on Saturday night when asked to compared the Ireland that caved in to his side in the final moments of their 2013 contest and the one that pushed them all the way over two games this month, coming up just a point short on aggregate at 50-49 over 160 minutes.
“The one thing now is that there is an expectation within them they should be winning Test matches and I think that comes from simply that – winning Test matches,” Hansen said.
“They won in Chicago. I thought they could go one or two ways. They could get excited by that and let their feet come off the floor or they could really dig in and get the resolve to do it again.
“I think we saw out there they dug in and got the resolve. They’re disappointed that they didn’t win and I think that’s a great thing for Irish rugby.
“I think there is a willingness and a desire to be better all the time when you listen to them talking when they do their media or when they’re in the paper.
“That’s a sign of a good team that is going places. So I think if they play with the same character that they played with against us, I think they’ll just get better, better and better and they’ll be harder and harder to beat.”
Schmidt will certainly feel his side could have been harder to beat on Saturday night, Ireland lacking the cutting edge that had wreaked such havoc two weeks earlier despite punching holes in the All Blacks’ defences everywhere but on the tryline.
“I think sometimes you get the points on the board and sometimes you don’t,” Schmidt said. “I felt that we were right in the game. I think (over two games) line-breaks, we were up there. Certainly possession and territory we were well ahead, discipline we were well ahead and the number of times we crossed the line was pretty similar to theirs. That’s how fine the margins are, so we weren’t that far away and they weren’t that far away two weeks ago in Chicago either. At 33-29 they made a couple of errors and potentially could have snuck a victory there.
“The one thing that it does give us confidence is we’ve had a few more guys been given the opportunity to play at this level and as long as we can keep growing that while at the same time keeping a core that are experienced, you know, I think losing a 10 and your 12, how many times does that happen? I thought CJ was huge in Chicago and losing him as well, it does make it a challenge.
“During the week you train two and a half, maybe three times, the guys who start tend to get the bulk of that time and therefore you tend to get a little bit potentially slower to take opportunities, you lack a little bit of clarity and suddenly if there’s any lack of clarity they’re getting off the line and putting pressure in your face and it’s very hard to play because they are very pro-active and very physical.”
Losing by small margins. Against the All Blacks there was a time when that would have been enough.
R Kearney; A Trimble, J Payne, R Henshaw (G Ringrose, 10), S Zebo (K Marmion, 73); J Sexton (P Jackson, 17), C Murray; J McGrath (C Healy, 57), R Best – captain (S Cronin, 67), T Furlong (F Bealham, 67); D Ryan (I Henderson, 57), D Toner; CJ Stander (J van der Flier, 22), S O’Brien, J Heaslip.
B Smith (W Naholo, 73); I Dagg, M Fekitoa, A Lienert-Brown, J Savea (A Cruden, 57); B Barrett, A Smith (TJ Perenara, 57); J Moody (W Crockett, 48), D Coles (C Taylor, 67), O Franks (C Faumuina, 51); B Retallick, S Whitelock; L Squire (S Barrett, 67), S Cane (A Savea, 17), K Read – captain.
A Smith 17-27 mins; Fekitoa 48-58
J Peyper (South Africa)
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