• Hugo Keenan — 7: One of the few Irish players who hardly put a foot wrong. Fielded well and gave Ireland impetus with a late carry. There was nobody in world rugby catching Will Jordan for his try.

• Mack Hansen — 7: One poor decision to chip through — which was blocked at source — but he followed it up with a tidy, speculative chip downfield which yielded a 50-22. Made the half-break and offload that led to Aaron Smith’s yellow, and was centimetres from supplying Dan Sheehan with a crossfield kick.

• Garry Ringrose — 6: Caught between a rock and a hard place for New Zealand’s first try. Had an atypically quiet day in defence as New Zealand sought the edges and, on the other side of the ball, couldn’t quite unpick New Zealand’s defence despite some huge efforts in the 38-phase end-game.

• Bundee Aki — 8: The player for which Ireland’s World Cup will be most remembered. World-class finish temporarily steadied the ship. Led the team with 20 carries (68 metres).

• James Lowe — 6: A solid enough outing defensively but, while he played the pass to Aki for Ireland’s first try, he was well marshalled by the All Blacks despite looking for plenty of work in attack.

• Johnny Sexton (captain) — 6: Died with his boots on — but this wasn’t among his many great days. Missed a crucial kick with Ireland eight points down. Led the backs with 11 tackles and looked understandably out on his feet at the death. Bows out of the game in tears, and very possibly as Ireland’s greatest ever rugby player.

• Jamison Gibson-Park — 5: Try was of paramount importance and well taken. Otherwise, though, he struggled mightily otherwise under significant pressure from the ABs’ pack. Second-hand skip pass intercepted by his opposite number was a poor decision made by a man who was removed from his element.

• Andrew Porter — 5: Pinged off the park in the scrum, much to his frustration, and conceded an early penalty at the breakdown. Got one back on the ground and gave it socks in defence.

• Dan Sheehan — 6: Lineout struggles weren’t solely his but he looked partly culpable in Jordan’s try. New Zealand stifled him in the carry, reducing him to just seven metres.

• Tadhg Furlong — 6: Only three scrums while he was on the field, but clocked up 11 tackles in his 51 minutes.

• Tadhg Beirne — 7: Used heavily as a carrier — second only to Doris in the pack — and averaged over three metres across all 10 bursts at the gain-line. Performed well in the lineout when Ireland shortened it. Joint tackle-leader on 17.

• Iain Henderson — 6: Just not as effective as he was last week despite a bright start in which he carried with venom. 

• Peter O’Mahony — 6: Same as above, but with more of a defensive influence. A key tap tackle on Smith was one of his 15 in total.

• Josh van der Flier — 6: Missed tackle on Mo’unga costly but he was among Ireland’s better players for the rest of his 58 minutes. Led the team on 17 tackles at the time of his withdrawal, and made 24 metres off his eight carries.

• Caelan Doris — 5: Arguably Ireland’s best player of their 17-game streak, Doris endured his worst game in green. He absolutely emptied himself, but New Zealand had clearly done their research on how to halt him. Won a big jackal turnover but the couple conceded, particularly an unforced knock-on through sheer exhaustion, were killers.

Replacements:

• Rónan Kelleher (Sheehan) — 6: Industrious and, were it not for an other-worldly feat of defending at the bottom of a maul by Jordie Barrett, might have been the match-winner.

• Dave Kilcoyne (Porter 75′) — n/a:

• Finlay Bealham (Furlong 52′) — 6: Big in the maul that almost got Ireland over the line late on and threw himself into six tackles, but lost connection with Van der Flier on the Mo’unga break that led to Jordan’s try.

• Joe McCarthy (Henderson 58′) — 6: Made a dent. Going to be some player.

• Jack Conan (Van der Flier 58′) — 7: Carried hard and beat three defenders. Kept Ireland’s incredible, 38-phase last stand alive on several occasions.

• Conor Murray (Gibson-Park 60′) — 6: Penalty concession was soul-destroying and, like Sexton’s missed penalty, meant Ireland had to chase a try rather than three points at the death. Still, Murray improved Ireland and his clever chip through led to the Aki turnover from which Kelleher was held up.

• Jack Crowley — n/a: 

• Jimmy O’Brien (Hansen 55′) — 7: Made almost 70 metres off nine carries and fielded a couple of tricky high balls. Excellent impact.