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All Blacks end Ireland's 19-match winning streak in Dublin
By PA
Ireland suffered further disappointment at the hands of New Zealand as their 19-match winning streak in Dublin was ended by a 23-13 defeat. Andy Farrell’s side were facing the formidable All Blacks for the first time since last year’s agonising 28-24 World Cup quarter-final loss in France.
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A 37th international try from full-back Will Jordan helped deny the hosts a modicum of revenge, adding to six penalties from fly-half Damian McKenzie as the Kiwis again came out on top.
Ireland, who had won five of the last nine meetings between the nations, looked rusty for large parts of a sold-out Aviva Stadium encounter which was more attritional than electric.
The Six Nations champions briefly threatened to click into gear but failed to build on Josh van der Flier’s score at the start of the second half, which was supplemented by eight points from Jack Crowley, as they were knocked off the top of the world rankings.
Talk of last year’s thrilling Stade de France showdown fuelled the build-up to a fixture which has developed into a genuine rivalry in recent years after being dominated by the All Blacks for more than a century.
Cast in the role of pantomime villain following his well-publicised spat with former Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton in Paris, Kiwi centre Rieko Ioane received some jeers as he led the Haka, which the home team stared down from a distance before eventually striding forward to meet.
Andrew Porter’s early charge-down further fired up the capacity crowd before Crowley and McKenzie exchanged penalties in a relatively scrappy opening punctuated by errors. Simmering tensions threatened to boil over in the 13th minute during a scuffle involving Kiwi captain Scott Barrett and Ireland lock Joe McCarthy.
Gladiator II actor Paul Mescal was pictured enjoying the conflict from the comfort of the terraces but, on the pitch, his country were beginning to lose the battles. New Zealand were in the ascendency for large parts of the first half and it required some last-ditch defending to prevent them fully capitalising.
Scott Robertson’s side led just 9-6 at the break after McKenzie slotted a couple more penalties before Crowley’s boot cut the deficit, on the back of Jordie Barrett being sin-binned for a high tackle on Garry Ringrose.
That incident briefly shifted the momentum and Ireland were rewarded for a rapid start to the second half by Van der Flier plundering the game’s opening try. Yet just a point separated the sides by the time All Blacks centre Barrett returned after McKenzie landed a long-range penalty before later striking the posts with a similar attempt.
Ireland’s repeated infringements were quickly becoming costly as the stop-start contest started to slip away. All Blacks number 10 McKenzie, playing in place of the concussed Beauden Barrett, made no mistake with his next two penalties, leaving the home side 18-13 down going into the final 15 minutes.
Farrell’s men offered little in response and were swiftly facing a first home defeat since being beaten by France in the 2021 Six Nations.
Hugo Keenan’s tackle denied Mark Tele’a on New Zealand’s right wing but the ball was quickly recycled for the jet-heeled Jordan to dart clear on the left and deliver the knockout blow.
Worst performance of this Irish team under Farrell bar none. Ireland started ok, but a dubious scrum for a knock in just outside the NZ 22 (didn't touch an Irish player and Irish pass hit a NZ thigh) stemmed that. A mistake by JGP led to 15 mins of NZ pressure which Ireland were lucky to escape for with only a pen against.
9-9 at half time was a result, but every time Ireland seemed to get into a position to strike errors undermined them. Key was a knock on by Crolwey when Ireland had manufactured an incredible attacking position, which then led to another 3 point concession. A try then put us two scores ahead. Leadership was completely missing. NZ were encroaching on Irleand's line out leading to 3 turnovers in the first half. Now if the ref doesn't see it, Doris needs to make him see it. Piardis intervention for NZ in a scrum looking harsh with the ref raising his hand to award it the other way.
The two no 10s were disastrous and my view is that the rivalry there may have added pressure to them Farrell needs to fix this.
I was proud of how the Irish supporters completely dispelled lies about them being disrespectful and arrogant. Ioane who abused them after the final whistle was given a free pass by the fans. Ofcourse when safe out of the Aviva he stirs it up again by posting abuse on Instagram. Humble teams don't mock beaten opponents. Arrogant teams do. Thats twice in a row NZ have mocked Ireland after beating them.
I think the loss will be good for Ireland as they clearly needed a wake up.
We owe NZ and lets hope that happens in a RWC knock out match in 2027. Again as usual we won't mock them or any team we beat.
How does it feel to be the most disliked Irish person on here? (you're certainly no fan).
Ireland are going to win the World Cup
NZ are going to win the world cup in 2023.
Of course they are, and Aliens will visit us in 2027 WC. First they need to get past the quarters.
Scott Robertson wanted his men to push through and sight their targets to help minimise errors from rushed and frustrating brain explosions.
This test match highlighted the entire coaching staff selecting from the All Blacks sqaud, a team capable of producing the necessary and silencing their critics.
Go the All Blacks...continuity and consistency well rewarded... onwards and upwards.
Take 3-0 at this point. We are building the blocks for next year. Our attack will come. Paddy and Roigard to start next week to keep it fresh.
Wait, what? What happened? How did the best team in the world lose at home to the All Blacks, who "aren't good anymore, and are scared of us"?
Must have been the refs!
I almost regret blocking one unspecified resident emerald-colored hot air balloon. I'd indulge in wallowing and rolling in the torrent of his excuses for a brief while.
But chances are, he's be nowhere to be seen, hiding Like Ben Smith after a Springbok win.
Mocking a beaten team is arrogant. Not surprized to see some NZ 'supporters' indulging. Take a look at Irish spectators last night for how to behave with integrity.
Given that ireland lost, i guess they really did treat this like a world cup game.
However, an awful lot of pageantry and occasion tl just to play a team that's lost its aura, easily beatable now, full of cheats and fake humbles with no world class players. It's almost as if the actual Irish team and fans don't reflect all the boasting of the online trolls and irish pundits.
The actual Irish fans were abused by Ioane and NZ after the match in Paris. The actual Irish team mocked by NZ players and Ioane did it again last night.
Its a big test thats all. Last ten games its 5-5. Don't boast too much. Hopefully Karma will come in RWC 2027
Ireland is slipping! Lost their Mana ( their Kiwi players getting older ) and Im looking forward to the rankings.
Good win in a scrappy game. Irish accuracy was off but the AB defense contributed to that. Everyone played their role and the result was a good one. Would have liked to see Finau on a little earlier but I thought Roigard was brought on at the right time. The replacement props and Patty T also had good shifts. Seems like Ardie went up a gear when Cane went off and he went to openside. Had a pretty quiet game prior to that. Loved the bold, in-your-face call of Reiko leading the haka! It set the tone by signalling we were not intimidated by Ireland, the crowd or the occasion. A few big-talking Irish fans were delightfully humbled.
Are you referring to me? I thought Ireland could have won and despite NZs dominance in the first half put themselves in a position to win but for unforced handling errors. As regards my assertion about NZ mocking beaten opponents. Irish fans showed him a clean slate after he abused them in Paris. After he was safe outside the Aviva he stirred up again. No excuses, he led the Haka. That's two matches in a row that NZ have mocked Ireland after beating them. No Karma this time, but perhaps a RWC knock out match will be more appropriate.
I don't think the big mouth trolls are real fans. I think real fans on both sides have real respect for the other teams and fans
Not the best game of rugby but I enjoyed watching it.
Go the AB's well done.!!
I was very impressed with the Irish crowd, they didn't drown out the haka, & they didn't once boo RI, particularly as he lead it (a stroke of genius from the AB camp) I thought that in itself was fantastic, fair play Irish fans ☘️🍻
Now where's that big mouth pentantic lunatic Red Warrior to show us the exact opposite of the way "real" Irish fans, as mentioned above, conduct themselves.!
Agree it wasnt a great game of rugby to watch. Thats on the refs for me. The Refs could definately allow rugby to break out but they arnt. The new law re blocking just opens up the game to so much more kicking instead of running rugby, and the attacking of the NZ 9 was crazy. Why were they allowed on NZs side of the ruck?
Best team won and the two biggest threats have been vanquished. Do they play France? I need to check... yep NZ play France that will be unmissable.
Nice to see McKenze taking selfies with the Irish fans too.
England were never the second biggest threat, always been France. We haven't beaten France in four (actually two) games iirc.
Why is there no strikethrough option on this site?