Andy Farrell questions how officials upgraded Tadhg Beirne yellow to red 

The communication issues persisted with Farrell and the coaching team unable to hear any of the deliberations.

Tadhg Beirne of Ireland and Beauden Barrett of New Zealand. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell questioned the logic behind Tadhg Beirne’s controversial early red card at Soldier Field but insisted it was no excuse for how Ireland collapsed late on to a New Zealand tidal wave.

Back at the scene of their 2016 breakthrough triumph over the All Blacks, Ireland lost arguably their most in-form performer less than five minutes into a peculiar contest which they still led past the hour mark before losing 26-13, a scoreline which could have been even more lopsided as those in green fell off the cliff in the final quarter.