Dan Sheehan: 'Lack of time together not an excuse - it just didn't click for us'

Ireland captain Dan Sheehan after the Gallagher Cup match at Soldier Field. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Ireland captain Dan Sheehan didn’t look for deflection or excuses after New Zealand found a lethal switch of gears to leave Andy Farrell’s men staring at an ugly opening to autumn.

After a mostly error-strewn and stop-start contest for the first hour in Chicago, the All Blacks reeled off three tries in the space of 15 minutes to turn the contest on its head in the fourth quarter.