SCOTT BARRETT SIZED up Peter O’Mahony’s position at the edge of the ruck and unleashed his inner Delia Smith: ‘let’s be ‘aving you’.
With that Barrett – the second row masquerading as a blindside for the night – charged into O’Mahony with his shoulder. It was a reckless moment, one that could have seriously injured the Ireland flanker, but one that resulted in just a penalty for the tourists. It could easily have been accompanied by a red card.
The funny thing is that while the incident became a bit of a thing on social media, here in Auckland, hardly anyone noticed it. No replays were shown on the big screen, no groans heard from the stands, no pressure applied on referee, Karl Dickson, to ‘go upstairs’ and review the tape.
There was a good reason for that. Of the 48,195 people in Eden Park, only a minority were Irish and it’s always easier for locals to shout louder than their guests in these circumstances, always harder for tourists to kick up a bit of fuss.
Yet you know if this exact same thing had have happened in Dublin, unsubtle screams for justice would have been heard in neighbouring postcodes.
Big moments – controversial decisions like this Barrett case; match-saving tackles such as the one delivered by James Lowe on Rieko Ioane in the meeting between these sides last November – always draw a supporter reaction.
And the louder they shout, the easier it becomes for a player to find the energy to drag himself off the floor and sprint 40 yards across a pitch to hit the next ruck, as Andrew Porter did just minutes after that Lowe tackle. Porter, remember, is a prop. Normally props go 55 or 60 minutes before getting the nod to come off. He made that sprint on 74.
Ireland won that afternoon, a day when the Aviva had a full house for the first time in nearly two years. New Zealand, on week 14 of a 15-week bio-bubble, were a shadow of themselves but despite being off colour, they still managed to score three tries in Dublin. Each time they did, silence followed.
That’s what happens away from home.
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In contrast, every Irish tackle, every break, every carry, received a cheer, all these little moments contributing to a big win – one of 15 out of 16 home victories for Ireland since Andy Farrell became their head coach in November 2019.
Ireland celebrate their victory last November. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
Yet there is a difference between prevailing on your soil and triumphing on someone else’s turf. In Dublin, Ireland have a 94 per cent win ratio under Farrell. Away from home, that figure drops to 33 per cent, his only wins on the road coming against Italy, Scotland and England – the latter playing 78 minutes of their 32-15 defeat with 14-men.
This isn’t a new thing. Across the last 20 years, Ireland have been breaking new territory, ending decades-long droughts by recording wins over South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, showing they have the measure of anyone at home, winning the last two dates with the All Blacks at the Aviva, getting three wins and a draw from their last five games against the Aussies in Dublin, five home victories out of seven against the Springboks.
But on their travels it is different. Over the same 20-year timeframe, Ireland have played five times in South Africa, winning once; eight times away to Australia, winning twice; 10 times in New Zealand, winning zilch.
It’s why they are where they are, periodically the best team in Europe but never good enough to reach a World Cup semi-final. And deep down they must know that if they are ever going to get to the next level, this is the bridge they’ll have to cross.
Clive Woodward’s 2003 England team is their obvious reference point. He brought that World Cup winning team here to New Zealand six months out from their triumph, beating the All Blacks in Wellington despite having to defend a five-metre scrum at one stage with just six players. They held out. “We found a way,” Martin Johnson, Woodward’s captain, said after. “Don’t ask me how, we just did.”
That’s what Farrell, Sexton, and everyone on this touring party are trying to find now.
“A lot of scores were not even down to (our) defence, funnily enough,” said Paul O’Connell, Ireland’s assistant coach, earlier today. “It can come from giving away a penalty which puts them into a position to attack you; from failing to exit from a lineout.
“We mentioned the scrum, the lineout, the breakdown; if we tidied those areas up, it’d make a difference. You won’t get it all your own way in those areas against better sides, we know that, but we probably need to make a better fist of it than we did on Saturday.”
Josh van der Flier accepted as much when he analysed the game afterwards, wincing at the memory of that 10-minute period before half-time when the All Blacks scored 21 unanswered points.
“One thing I always find playing New Zealand or French teams who have top quality players who can score from anywhere is that you have to keep at them,” said van der Flier. “You can’t play safe.
“You can afford to lapse in concentration once. But you can’t follow up on a mistake with another one.”
That’s where Ireland fell down last night. At home, they would have drawn solace from a crowd’s cheers after the concession of a score. Here in Auckland, it was the All Blacks who were getting that support.
“I know our boys really enjoy playing in the Aviva stadium, being at home there, we have done very well there recently,” said O’Connell.
“We probably haven’t been away from home as much as we should have in recent years (just nine of Farrell’s 25-game tenure has been on the road).
“When we played in Paris this year (losing by six points), it was a tough experience for us – a different experience to what we have been used to. So, for us, having to manage things being thrown at us the last two weeks while touring away from home, we are finding out a lot about ourselves as coaches and finding out a lot about our players. It is a real tough challenge.
“And then when you get to a place like Eden Park, you come up against a team who want to protect that (28-year unbeaten) record. They want to perform well in front of their fans. As for us, we probably need to be better away from home than we have been in recent games.”
It’s the difference between being a good team and a great one.
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Ireland need to learn how to win away if they are to step up to the next level
SCOTT BARRETT SIZED up Peter O’Mahony’s position at the edge of the ruck and unleashed his inner Delia Smith: ‘let’s be ‘aving you’.
With that Barrett – the second row masquerading as a blindside for the night – charged into O’Mahony with his shoulder. It was a reckless moment, one that could have seriously injured the Ireland flanker, but one that resulted in just a penalty for the tourists. It could easily have been accompanied by a red card.
The funny thing is that while the incident became a bit of a thing on social media, here in Auckland, hardly anyone noticed it. No replays were shown on the big screen, no groans heard from the stands, no pressure applied on referee, Karl Dickson, to ‘go upstairs’ and review the tape.
There was a good reason for that. Of the 48,195 people in Eden Park, only a minority were Irish and it’s always easier for locals to shout louder than their guests in these circumstances, always harder for tourists to kick up a bit of fuss.
Yet you know if this exact same thing had have happened in Dublin, unsubtle screams for justice would have been heard in neighbouring postcodes.
Big moments – controversial decisions like this Barrett case; match-saving tackles such as the one delivered by James Lowe on Rieko Ioane in the meeting between these sides last November – always draw a supporter reaction.
And the louder they shout, the easier it becomes for a player to find the energy to drag himself off the floor and sprint 40 yards across a pitch to hit the next ruck, as Andrew Porter did just minutes after that Lowe tackle. Porter, remember, is a prop. Normally props go 55 or 60 minutes before getting the nod to come off. He made that sprint on 74.
Ireland won that afternoon, a day when the Aviva had a full house for the first time in nearly two years. New Zealand, on week 14 of a 15-week bio-bubble, were a shadow of themselves but despite being off colour, they still managed to score three tries in Dublin. Each time they did, silence followed.
That’s what happens away from home.
In contrast, every Irish tackle, every break, every carry, received a cheer, all these little moments contributing to a big win – one of 15 out of 16 home victories for Ireland since Andy Farrell became their head coach in November 2019.
Yet there is a difference between prevailing on your soil and triumphing on someone else’s turf. In Dublin, Ireland have a 94 per cent win ratio under Farrell. Away from home, that figure drops to 33 per cent, his only wins on the road coming against Italy, Scotland and England – the latter playing 78 minutes of their 32-15 defeat with 14-men.
This isn’t a new thing. Across the last 20 years, Ireland have been breaking new territory, ending decades-long droughts by recording wins over South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, showing they have the measure of anyone at home, winning the last two dates with the All Blacks at the Aviva, getting three wins and a draw from their last five games against the Aussies in Dublin, five home victories out of seven against the Springboks.
But on their travels it is different. Over the same 20-year timeframe, Ireland have played five times in South Africa, winning once; eight times away to Australia, winning twice; 10 times in New Zealand, winning zilch.
It’s why they are where they are, periodically the best team in Europe but never good enough to reach a World Cup semi-final. And deep down they must know that if they are ever going to get to the next level, this is the bridge they’ll have to cross.
Clive Woodward’s 2003 England team is their obvious reference point. He brought that World Cup winning team here to New Zealand six months out from their triumph, beating the All Blacks in Wellington despite having to defend a five-metre scrum at one stage with just six players. They held out. “We found a way,” Martin Johnson, Woodward’s captain, said after. “Don’t ask me how, we just did.”
That’s what Farrell, Sexton, and everyone on this touring party are trying to find now.
Despite the 23-point gap, they got plenty of things right in last night’s 42-19 loss, scoring three tries, having another two disallowed, being held up on another occasion, creating two breaks which would have led to tries only for moments of defensive genius from Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett.
They won the possession battle hands down – but were miles off winning the match, conceding as many tries in the 20 minutes before half-time as they did in their entire Six Nations campaign.
“A lot of scores were not even down to (our) defence, funnily enough,” said Paul O’Connell, Ireland’s assistant coach, earlier today. “It can come from giving away a penalty which puts them into a position to attack you; from failing to exit from a lineout.
“We mentioned the scrum, the lineout, the breakdown; if we tidied those areas up, it’d make a difference. You won’t get it all your own way in those areas against better sides, we know that, but we probably need to make a better fist of it than we did on Saturday.”
Josh van der Flier accepted as much when he analysed the game afterwards, wincing at the memory of that 10-minute period before half-time when the All Blacks scored 21 unanswered points.
“One thing I always find playing New Zealand or French teams who have top quality players who can score from anywhere is that you have to keep at them,” said van der Flier. “You can’t play safe.
“You can afford to lapse in concentration once. But you can’t follow up on a mistake with another one.”
That’s where Ireland fell down last night. At home, they would have drawn solace from a crowd’s cheers after the concession of a score. Here in Auckland, it was the All Blacks who were getting that support.
“I know our boys really enjoy playing in the Aviva stadium, being at home there, we have done very well there recently,” said O’Connell.
“We probably haven’t been away from home as much as we should have in recent years (just nine of Farrell’s 25-game tenure has been on the road).
“When we played in Paris this year (losing by six points), it was a tough experience for us – a different experience to what we have been used to. So, for us, having to manage things being thrown at us the last two weeks while touring away from home, we are finding out a lot about ourselves as coaches and finding out a lot about our players. It is a real tough challenge.
“And then when you get to a place like Eden Park, you come up against a team who want to protect that (28-year unbeaten) record. They want to perform well in front of their fans. As for us, we probably need to be better away from home than we have been in recent games.”
It’s the difference between being a good team and a great one.
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Ireland Travel sickness