ONLY ONE MEMBER of the Ireland squad is introduced with their nickname included during the pre-game team announcements. Perhaps the man with the Aviva Stadium microphone has been watching the recent Vince McMahon documentary on Netflix. The wrestling world had ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, but here in Ireland we have ‘Big’ Joe McCarthy.
One wonders what the New Zealand players were thinking as they ran through their warm-ups. We might be proudly advertising our big lump of a second row, but the All Blacks aren’t exactly short of a few meaty forwards themselves and ‘Big’ Scott Barrett was ready to rumble.
McCarthy’s introduction teed up a tempting wrestling theme for the battle that lay in store last night, but alas, the comparisons stopped there. The WWE would never allow one of their heavyweight clashes to play out so starved of box-office moments. The lasting memory of this 23-13 defeat will be Ireland putting the ball on the floor and Damian McKenzie booting it between the posts.
This was not the Ireland we have come to know under Andy Farrell, and with that a hard-earned 19-game winning record in Dublin came to an underwhelming end.
Ireland face the Haka. Ken Sutton / INPHO
Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO
Post-game, Farrell put the credit in New Zealand’s corner. Having looked agitated as the match drew to a close, with microphones and cameras pointed his way the Ireland head coach resisted the excuses he could have played, with rustiness or a bad rub of the green from referee Nic Berry both dismissed.
In truth, the story of the night could largely be told through two numbers. Ireland’s final penalty count: 13. Handling errors: 21. Those returns proved devastating and ensured Scott Robertson’s men were able to keep Ireland at arm’s length without venturing too far beyond their own half.
Will Jordan’s 68th-minute try came from New Zealand’s only visit to the Ireland 22 in the second half. That single passage of clinical, accurate play in the 22 was ultimately sharper than anything Ireland could muster.
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This was not the free-flowing, electrifying swagger associated with the All Blacks. They too were nowhere near the heights they hit at last year’s World Cup, but on this occasion, they didn’t need to be.
Eighteen of their 23 points came from McKenzie’s right foot. After a year in which the Chiefs player has seen his game-management questioned, this was his strongest outing of the Test season and best argument yet that he can be Richie Mo’unga’s long-term replacement. In different circumstances McKenzie may not even have started in Dublin, but with Beauden Barrett ruled out he grasped the opportunity with a player of the match display.
Three McKenzie penalties had New Zealand 9-6 up at the break, and he doubled his tally after the interval.
McKenzie was excellent for New Zealand. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland felt they hadn’t fired a shot in that scrappy first half but they were right in it thanks to a determined and impressive defensive effort.
By the time the opening 40 came to a close the home side had thrown themselves into 89 tackles, almost three times that of their visitors. Some of those were desperate recovery attempts to slap plasters on pierced holes. Josh van der Flier went low to tumble McKenzie after Hugo Keenan produced a try-saver on Tele’a out wide. The light-footed McKenzie always looked a threat and was later thwarted by another excellent intervention from Jamison Gibson-Park. The Leinster player led the fight throughout, Ireland’s sniping scrum-half becoming the bullet as he fired up to suffocate Jordan.
The sight of green jerseys scrambling after black ones was a familiar sight. New Zealand made nine linebreaks and beat 30 defenders across the 80. Ireland had one linebreak for 14 defenders beaten.
Some of Ireland’s defending was bone-rattling. Garry Ringrose emptied Rieko Ioane with a shuddering hit, one of three dominant tackles by Ireland in the opening 20 minutes.
McCarthy was also in the thick of the action alongside the equally busy James Ryan in the second row. ‘Big’ Joe thumped into Sam Cane, made a notable effort to rise the home crowd and found himself involved in a heated exchange with Scott Barrett – the All Black lock suspecting a cheap hit from the Leinster man.
Joe McCarthy had a heated exchange with Scott Barrett. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
A strange first half was followed by a promising start to the second, Ireland enjoying plenty of ball before finally forcing the first try of the game through Van der Flier while New Zealand were reduced to 14.
The Aviva roared as Jack Crowley kicked Ireland into a 13-9 lead but with 37 minutes left to play, that would be where Ireland’s scoring stopped.
They will look back and feel haunted by uncharacteristically sloppy errors. Bundee Aki twice lost ball he would expect to hold while Crowley, Iain Henderson and Ciarán Frawley were also among the guilty party. The sight of a frustrated Frawley booting the ball away after Ireland’s latest spill with 10 to play summed up how most of the 52,000 in attendance felt. The time for deep breaths had passed.
It was all so oddly flat. The attack so oddly stagnant. Ireland had not felt like this since the early days of Farrell’s tenure.
How they react will be fascinating. This team have taken huge pride in trusting their instincts and backing their game against any opposition, but when stuck in a scrap Farrell saw his players overplay the ball and make repeat errors. The counter-argument is that the game can turn if just one of those moments click.
Nights like these have grown increasingly few and far between and Ireland may not find themselves in such an arm-wrestle over the remainder of this month, where they play a talented Argentina team, the fun and free-wheeling Fiji and a slumbering Australia.
They are three games Ireland will be expected to win but in starting this series against the headline opponents of the month, some of the energy has already been sapped from this November window. With their momentum clipped, this run of games has taken on a new complexion.
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Ireland fail to land their punches while New Zealand box clever
ONLY ONE MEMBER of the Ireland squad is introduced with their nickname included during the pre-game team announcements. Perhaps the man with the Aviva Stadium microphone has been watching the recent Vince McMahon documentary on Netflix. The wrestling world had ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, but here in Ireland we have ‘Big’ Joe McCarthy.
One wonders what the New Zealand players were thinking as they ran through their warm-ups. We might be proudly advertising our big lump of a second row, but the All Blacks aren’t exactly short of a few meaty forwards themselves and ‘Big’ Scott Barrett was ready to rumble.
McCarthy’s introduction teed up a tempting wrestling theme for the battle that lay in store last night, but alas, the comparisons stopped there. The WWE would never allow one of their heavyweight clashes to play out so starved of box-office moments. The lasting memory of this 23-13 defeat will be Ireland putting the ball on the floor and Damian McKenzie booting it between the posts.
This was not the Ireland we have come to know under Andy Farrell, and with that a hard-earned 19-game winning record in Dublin came to an underwhelming end.
Post-game, Farrell put the credit in New Zealand’s corner. Having looked agitated as the match drew to a close, with microphones and cameras pointed his way the Ireland head coach resisted the excuses he could have played, with rustiness or a bad rub of the green from referee Nic Berry both dismissed.
In truth, the story of the night could largely be told through two numbers. Ireland’s final penalty count: 13. Handling errors: 21. Those returns proved devastating and ensured Scott Robertson’s men were able to keep Ireland at arm’s length without venturing too far beyond their own half.
Will Jordan’s 68th-minute try came from New Zealand’s only visit to the Ireland 22 in the second half. That single passage of clinical, accurate play in the 22 was ultimately sharper than anything Ireland could muster.
This was not the free-flowing, electrifying swagger associated with the All Blacks. They too were nowhere near the heights they hit at last year’s World Cup, but on this occasion, they didn’t need to be.
Eighteen of their 23 points came from McKenzie’s right foot. After a year in which the Chiefs player has seen his game-management questioned, this was his strongest outing of the Test season and best argument yet that he can be Richie Mo’unga’s long-term replacement. In different circumstances McKenzie may not even have started in Dublin, but with Beauden Barrett ruled out he grasped the opportunity with a player of the match display.
Three McKenzie penalties had New Zealand 9-6 up at the break, and he doubled his tally after the interval.
Ireland felt they hadn’t fired a shot in that scrappy first half but they were right in it thanks to a determined and impressive defensive effort.
By the time the opening 40 came to a close the home side had thrown themselves into 89 tackles, almost three times that of their visitors. Some of those were desperate recovery attempts to slap plasters on pierced holes. Josh van der Flier went low to tumble McKenzie after Hugo Keenan produced a try-saver on Tele’a out wide. The light-footed McKenzie always looked a threat and was later thwarted by another excellent intervention from Jamison Gibson-Park. The Leinster player led the fight throughout, Ireland’s sniping scrum-half becoming the bullet as he fired up to suffocate Jordan.
The sight of green jerseys scrambling after black ones was a familiar sight. New Zealand made nine linebreaks and beat 30 defenders across the 80. Ireland had one linebreak for 14 defenders beaten.
Some of Ireland’s defending was bone-rattling. Garry Ringrose emptied Rieko Ioane with a shuddering hit, one of three dominant tackles by Ireland in the opening 20 minutes.
McCarthy was also in the thick of the action alongside the equally busy James Ryan in the second row. ‘Big’ Joe thumped into Sam Cane, made a notable effort to rise the home crowd and found himself involved in a heated exchange with Scott Barrett – the All Black lock suspecting a cheap hit from the Leinster man.
A strange first half was followed by a promising start to the second, Ireland enjoying plenty of ball before finally forcing the first try of the game through Van der Flier while New Zealand were reduced to 14.
The Aviva roared as Jack Crowley kicked Ireland into a 13-9 lead but with 37 minutes left to play, that would be where Ireland’s scoring stopped.
They will look back and feel haunted by uncharacteristically sloppy errors. Bundee Aki twice lost ball he would expect to hold while Crowley, Iain Henderson and Ciarán Frawley were also among the guilty party. The sight of a frustrated Frawley booting the ball away after Ireland’s latest spill with 10 to play summed up how most of the 52,000 in attendance felt. The time for deep breaths had passed.
It was all so oddly flat. The attack so oddly stagnant. Ireland had not felt like this since the early days of Farrell’s tenure.
How they react will be fascinating. This team have taken huge pride in trusting their instincts and backing their game against any opposition, but when stuck in a scrap Farrell saw his players overplay the ball and make repeat errors. The counter-argument is that the game can turn if just one of those moments click.
Nights like these have grown increasingly few and far between and Ireland may not find themselves in such an arm-wrestle over the remainder of this month, where they play a talented Argentina team, the fun and free-wheeling Fiji and a slumbering Australia.
They are three games Ireland will be expected to win but in starting this series against the headline opponents of the month, some of the energy has already been sapped from this November window. With their momentum clipped, this run of games has taken on a new complexion.
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