All Blacks protect their fortress with crushing win over Ireland
If there were any lingering demons from Ireland’s previous visit to New Zealand, they ought to have now been quashed.
The All Blacks made sure of that with an emphatic 40-21 victory over Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday night.
New Zealand’s Anton Lienert-Brown breaks a tackle from Ireland to score a try. Photosport
Their fourth straight win over the Irish kept their 32-year unbeaten run (53 matches) at Eden Park safely intact, and ensured the All Blacks will depart for next month’s tour of South Africa having made a 3-0 start to the Nations Championship under new coach Dave Rennie.
With Ian Foster, the man in charge of the All Blacks during their historic series loss to Ireland on home soil in 2022, among the 48,153 spectators, the All Blacks got the job done on the back of a dominant 28-7 halftime lead.
They outscored Ireland six tries to three in what was their best performance of the young season as a whole, although ill discipline - they conceded seven penalties and a yellow card - proved costly, and they spluttered in the second half before replacement Anton Lienert-Brown’s late try.
Nonetheless, there was plenty to like about the performance of Rennie’s beefed up pack after he asked his team to be prepared to go through the Irish.
Damian McKenzie was named man of the match.
The All Blacks fullback finished the night at five-eighth as Ruben Love left the field with his knee heavily strapped.
“Tough Test match. Ireland come out of the gates strong, and we knew we had to start well,” McKenzie said.
“The last couple of weeks, we probably haven’t started as best as we wanted, so really happy with the way we started. We knew we had to just keep in our work, and it was still grinding that second half.
“The Irish boys are a tough side. We had to work really hard for our points in that second half, but awesome to come away with a tough Test win. We had a really good balance between our kick game and our run game. Obviously, we’re pretty keen to be optimistic around the way we want to play.
“I’m loving the way we’re playing as a team. We’re just getting started. Still a lot to go, but awesome with the way we’ve started. The way we’re playing, you can tell we’re having a lot of fun out there.”
Fit-again lock Patrick Tuipulotu was excellent in his first test of the year, carrying directly and powerfully, and scoring a try after cashing in a crisp pass by fellow second rower Josh Lord.
Tupou Vaa’i, moved to blindside flanker after Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi underwhelmed in the No 6 jersey the previous two tests, also impressed.
He especially enjoyed roaming on the flanks, where he carried strongly and provided the All Blacks some extra punch.
Captain Ardie Savea also reinforced just why Rennie is so fond of him at No 8, after he powered off the back of a 5m scrum and carried three defenders over the line.
Rennie’s biggest complaint will likely be the way poor discipline allowed Ireland back into the test, including after Tuipulotu and Savea scored first half tries.
The hosts were camped in the Irish 22, plugging away at the line and sniffing a 21-0 lead inside half an hour - that was until Luke Jacobson let them off the hook with a dangerous cleanout.
Jacobson was yellow carded for wiping out Josh van der Flier with his shoulder, and the look on his face made it clear there was a very real fear he might not be allowed back on the park.
However, the off-field review ensured it wasn’t upgraded to red because his arm rode up off another Irish player.
Nonetheless, it swung momentum Ireland’s way, before a Jordie Barrett breakdown penalty piggybacked the visitors to within striking distance and No 8 Jack Conan smashed over.
If Rennie was filthy his team had bossed the first 33 minutes but led just 14-7, the mood in the Irish coaching box would have been a heck of a lot more grim a moment later.
After all, Ireland gifted the All Blacks seven points after the restart, when they attempted to work their way out of their 22, only for a loose pass to fall for Will Jordan to scoop up and run in arguably the easiest of his 51 test tries.
And it only got worse for Ireland a few minutes later, when hooker Asafo Aumua, having not long replaced the injured Codie Taylor, went over from close-range to cash in a Ruben Love 50/22.
Ireland struck early in the second half and threatened to pull to within a converted try inside the final 10 minutes, only for Jordan to first earn a crucial breakdown penalty, and then set up Lienert-Brown’s late strike.
While this is not the same beast that the Irish team of 2022 was, they’re still a formidable side, albeit one made to look sub par by the All Blacks, and one that constantly shot itself in the foot through sloppiness, including a plethora of loose passes and a lack of discipline.
Ireland captain Dan Sheehan rued another missed opportunity at Eden Park.
The visitors started slow and have now lost their last four Tests against New Zealand.
“We were pumped up to be here, to get the opportunity to play at Eden Park,” the hooker said.
“We had a lot of support here tonight as well, but the All Blacks are a classy outfit, and they’ll punish you if you’re not on your A game. Our discipline, I think, let us down today a little bit, but I’m proud of the boys. I’m proud of the season we had.
“We really targeted this game, but we’ll learn the lessons and go into next season... we wanted to test ourselves against the best. We know where we are now, and we know the work we have to do because it’s a big, big year coming up in the lead up to the World Cup.
“We’re disappointed with that, but I’m proud of the effort of the boys, and we just need to hit the ground running next year, and keep getting better.”
