John Fallon reports from Manchester
VICTORIOUS IRISH COACH Nigel Carolan said his young charges can cherish their historic win over New Zealand for the rest of their careers.
They are the first Irish men’s team to beat New Zealand and Carolan said they should be very proud of what they have achieved.
“To be the first Irish team to beat New Zealand is huge, for these young men who have just achieved that today hopefully it is the start of super careers for them.
“Hopefully it will give them the belief, and any Irish team that we are good and if we can perform as a collective we are hard to beat.”
It’s been a great fortnight for the Galway native. He is also the Connacht academy manager and many of his protégés were part of Pat Lam’s Pro12 winning squad. But he admitted he feared the worst when New Zealand cut the gap in the closing stages but felt his men had the composure to respond.
You should always fear the worst when you play against New Zealand because they are capable of anything. A lot of their scores, very often they came out of nothing.
“Their scores can come from anywhere and we have to be on our toes but once we were in their half, in the last couple of minutes we were comfortable.
“It was very difficult conditions for both teams but we dealt with it very well. The game that we tried to play was maybe a lower risk and high intensity but we seemed to get a return on everything that we did.
“We forced them into making a lot of mistakes which ultimately they paid the price for,” he added.
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As Gordon D’Arcy said on Sky, this was no fluke, no dodgy decision, no jammy break. Our lads simply outplayed NZ in all facets of play. To see our pack, 6kg a man lighter, destroying their scrum was a sight to behold. The confidence and belief on display was outstanding.
Congrats to everyone involved a truly historic achievement. Best of luck for the rest of the tournament.
Well done coach.
Fantastic day for Irish rugby. Carolan has done an amazing job with the under 20s. Their attitude and skill set are brilliant to watch.
Landmark day ! Remember this !!
First the women, then the boys, time for the men to step up in Chicago
As much as I think Nigel is great I have to correct him about being the first Irish Team to beat NZ . Nigel the Women’s Irish Rugby Team is the first team to beat NZ. In fact they beat them at the World Cup in France.
The piece said Irish men’s team. If you want to be picky Munster beat them in ’78 which makes them the first ever ;)
Nigels comment 3rd paragraph !!
Ow careless of Nigel to get caught up in the moment for making that slip of the tongue. Maybe you should start a petition to get him sacked. Or, you could get over it and move on (I think the second one would be better for the future of the game )
Ah Sineeeeaaaad!
Hi praise indeed from the NZ herald after todays fantastic match – doesn’t get better than this!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11655099