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What Ireland said behind closed doors after bitter loss to All Blacks

By PA
Iain Henderson, Tadhg Beirne and Peter O'Mahony - PA

Ireland’s players have vowed there will be “no sulking” during their efforts to bounce back from the disappointment of a first Dublin defeat in more than three years.

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Andy Farrell’s men were seeking a 20th consecutive win at the Aviva Stadium before being beaten 23-13 by New Zealand in their biggest game of this month’s Autumn Nations Series.

Friday evening’s stop-start encounter failed to live up to its billing as the All Blacks deservedly triumphed thanks to six Damian McKenzie penalties and Will Jordan’s 37th try in 39 Tests.

Video Spacer

The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

Video Spacer

The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

Error-strewn Ireland, whose only previous home loss under head coach Farrell came against France in the 2021 Six Nations, will look to respond against Argentina on Friday before hosting Fiji and Australia.

Prop Finlay Bealham said: “It was a disappointed dressing room. It’s always tough to lose at home.

Match Summary

2
Penalty Goals
6
1
Tries
1
1
Conversions
0
0
Drop Goals
0
85
Carries
118
1
Line Breaks
9
13
Turnovers Lost
12
6
Turnovers Won
6

“We got into a huddle and just said ‘no sulking’. We’ll get on with it and learn from the mistakes we made.

“We have an incredibly tough Test match next Friday and we’ll look to fix the stuff we can be better at.

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“There’s still three games to go in this series, and we’ll dust ourselves off.

“We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves, we’ll analyse it properly and another big Test next week.”

Following a largely forgettable first half of limited action, Josh van der Flier’s 43rd-minute try looked to have ignited the contest.

Yet a series of mistakes and repeated infringements stifled Ireland as New Zealand recovered from the sin-binning of Jordie Barrett to regain the momentum and subdue the sold-out crowd.

“They’re a world-class team with some unbelievable individuals,” said Bealham.

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“Every time you play them you know it’s going to be an absolute war, and it was a war again. They were the better team on the night.

“They were really good in terms of ruck pressure, and we couldn’t get into our flow attack-wise.

“(I’m) confident (we can turn it around). We’ve got world-class coaches, world-class players, and we want to analyse it properly and see where it went wrong and things we can improve on.

“I’m sure, knowing the group, we’ll fix a lot of that.”

Bealham was thrust into Ireland’s starting XV due to star tighthead Tadhg Furlong being sidelined by a hamstring strain.

The 33-year-old played the majority of the game after his replacement Tom O’Toole was forced off with a head injury shortly after coming off the bench.

“I got a mouthful of water and then unfortunately for Tom he went down and I knew I was back on,” said Bealham.

“It was a tough, tough game physically. I was blowing a bit at the end.”

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Comments

44 Comments
T
Toaster 8 days ago

I think the Irish started well and had moments where they wrested control early in the second half but that was momentary

But they made many errors and faced a team that played a very different and more composed game plan than normal


I don’t think the Irish will drop off personally

You don’t get to win that many games without being a great side but it is an interesting period for them


They have a more dogging schedule than the other teams so should beat all of Argentina, Fiji and Aus but you never know


England and the ABs have the toughest schedules


But again all the NH teams are at home

B
Bull Shark 8 days ago

Guys guys guys. Keep it respectful!


But a very big thank you for testing the depths of the moderators limits.


One of my personal favourites, which I shall enjoy using liberally from here on out:


fu¢kface

A classic. I remember the good old days when you could call someone that on this site without having to censor. Only got to use it once in its pure form before it got banned.

B
Bull Shark 8 days ago

Guys guys guys. Keep it respectful!


But a very big thank you for testing the depths of the moderators limits.


One of my personal favourites, which I shall enjoy using liberally from here on out:


fu¢kface

A classic. I remember the good old days when you could call someone that on this site without having to censor. Only got to use it once in its pure form before fuckface got banned.

R
RedWarrior 9 days ago

Ireland beat France by a record score in France.

Draw a series in SA 1-1 beating SAs most capped team ever in match 2.

We obviously play poorly in a match in Dublin and some SH geniuses announce Ireland's demise. Nuts.

J
JWH 9 days ago

While some NH geniuses whinge that it's 'only the start of the season' despite the fact they have been in training camp for a couple weeks and should know better than to drop the ball when its kicked to them.


Fact of the matter is Ireland are on the way out. The quantity and quality of Irish talent is subpar compared to NZ, SA, FRA, ENG, ARG, and AUS. Once these 'Irish' 30 yr olds quit, its so over for the Emerald Isle.

S
SL 9 days ago

They will probably have Corporal Jones saying 'Don't Panic' as he addresses the rest of Dad's Army!

J
Jmann 10 days ago

Imagine how bad it might have been if the ABs were playing anywhere near their full potential?


This NZ team is only just getting started - and whilst they don't look like they'll ever challenge the unparalleled 2011-2017 team - they certainly look like they'll be able to get the measure of any of the present teams in world rugby.

R
RedWarrior 9 days ago

Boasting again? NZ were no1 team for 80% of the time in the history of world cups.

They always choked only winning one foreign cup (where they fixed the scheduling) and needed a dodgy ref to win in 2011. My guess is NZ are 9 years into another long barren spell.

H
Head high tackle 11 days ago

Ireland looked rather average. Cant help thinking they can defend but dont know how to attack beyond their 8. A team on the slide.

Also can someone tell me where to find this so called "19 test wins in a row" at AViva? I know they lost there in 2021 and I cant see them having played there 19 times since then. Then I heard the term 19 wins in a row "with a crowd" so are they just ignoring the 2021 loss?

J
JW 11 days ago

That would be the new Irish thing to do.

T
Tk 11 days ago

Ireland have become a very good side, well coached and with a number of world class players, some who have now moved on or are near end of their careers. They now seem to have an expectation to win and seem almost bewildered when they don't. With new faces appearing, how they maintain that number one spot and continue to win will be the acid test.

L
LRB 8 days ago

This is so accurate, I particularly liked "they seem bewildered when they don't" (win). At the top of their game, Ireland were a formidable & an almost unstoppable team, they were phenomenal. But it's certainly not like that now.

J
Jmann 10 days ago

Their best 4 players are foreign born and trained.

J
JW 11 days ago

It's amusing to say the least.


Very accurate perspective on both teams from the Irish TNT broadcasters (callers I think) in a little get together after the game.

B
Bull Shark 11 days ago

The Irish team looked like a team at the start of a season. The ABs looked like a team at the end of a season and on a mission.


Tough one playing your first game of the season against the ABs.

B
BH 11 days ago

South Africa and New Zealand were good enough to win their first games of the season though :)

H
Head high tackle 11 days ago

And yet every July inbound tour to NZ has the same scenario.

L
LRB 11 days ago

Rumour has it the Irish team (very humble in defeat I must say) have heard there is a toss-pot troll called red warrior on rugbpass. They desperately want to distance themselves from him & his constant bleating & moaning & excuses.

R
RedWarrior 9 days ago

(Anonymous SH tough guys name calling on RP again.)


No excuses for Friday night the better team won on the night.


Unfortunately NZ chose to mock beaten opponents again confirming themselves as the most arrogant International team in World Rugby. England told us this in the early 2000s we should have listened.


Th AB website modestly describes themselves as "World Superstars" and "Humble Heroes". They will always believe themselves to be the former but surely they can't keep propagating the lie for the latter??

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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