1
What Ireland said behind closed doors after bitter loss to All Blacks
By 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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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 Player is loading.
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.
“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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.”
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
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:
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.
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.
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.
They will probably have Corporal Jones saying 'Don't Panic' as he addresses the rest of Dad's Army!
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.
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.
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?
That would be the new Irish thing to do.
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.
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.
Their best 4 players are foreign born and trained.
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.
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.
South Africa and New Zealand were good enough to win their first games of the season though :)
And yet every July inbound tour to NZ has the same scenario.
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.
(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??