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Dan Sheehan says All Blacks loss 'a bitter pill to swallow'
By PA
Captain Dan Sheehan admitted Ireland failed to deliver following a resounding 26-13 defeat to New Zealand in Chicago.
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Andy Farrell’s side initially overcame the controversial early dismissal of Tadhg Beirne for a high tackle on Beauden Barrett to lead through a Tadhg Furlong score and eight points from Jack Crowley.
But, almost nine years to the day since Ireland’s milestone first victory in the fixture, the All Blacks gained revenge at Soldier Field thanks to tries from Ardie Savea, Tamaiti Williams, Wallace Sititi and Cam Roigard.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Sheehan told TNT Sports.
“To be honest, I don’t think we ever really got going. We saw very small patches of what we were looking for but we couldn’t really put the whole picture together.”
Lock Beirne was sin-binned in the third minute for an upright challenge on All Blacks fly-half Barrett – who landed three of his four conversion attempts – before the punishment was upgraded to a red card on review.
Ireland led 10-7 at half-time and increased that advantage by three points early in the second period through Crowley’s second successful penalty of the game.
However, New Zealand took control of a contest, which was more scrappy than scintillating, in the final quarter to ruin Farrell’s return as Ireland head coach following his British and Irish Lions sabbatical.
Ireland host Japan next weekend ahead of further Dublin appointments against Australia and world champions South Africa.
“I thought we were operating about 80 per cent going into that half-time period,” said Sheehan.
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“We looked to get a bit extra going into that second half. At times we did but there was a lot of inaccuracies at the breakdown and with discipline, so there’s a lot to work on.
“We thought we were in a good spot, but things didn’t click for us today and we’ll have to have an honest review of that.
“Hopefully we can bounce back next week and turn it around.”
Ireland versus New Zealand has developed into a genuine rivalry in recent years, with each side beginning the day with five wins apiece from the past 10 meetings, including the previous clash in the United States.
All Blacks back-rower Savea, who came off the bench in his country’s 40-29 loss in 2016, said: “That was nine years ago, but it is nice to come here and rectify that. We’ll enjoy tonight and celebrate the win.”
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Asked about the team talk following a disjointed first-half display, he said: “We couldn’t get things going and it’s credit to the Irish team for putting pressure on us.
“But once we started to get our flow things started to go our way. We’ll look at the first half, but overall we’re happy.”
