How New Zealand media reacted to humbling of Ireland
The New Zealand rugby media was left pretty satisfied after their nation exacted revenge on Ireland, comfortably beating the northern hemisphere side 42-19 at Eden Park.
Andy Farrell’s men came into the fixture as Six Nations runners up and had beaten the All Blacks 29-20 in the previous 2021 Autumn Nations Series. However, after losing to the Maori All Blacks and then the senior team, Ireland are now the ones having to face stern questions.
The New Zealand Herald’s Liam Napier honed in on the problems percolating around the men in green.
“Often the All Blacks’ nemesis in recent years, having won three of their previous five tests, Ireland gradually disintegrated in front of a 48,195-strong crowd.
“As the match wore, and the All Blacks’ dominance grew, Ireland’s frustration became clear. By the finish, the notion that Ireland are a different beast at home rung true.”
Ireland ended their winless run against the All Blacks, spanning over a century, in 2016 at Soldier Field in Chicago. It was not to be an isolated incident, as they followed it up with another two wins at the Aviva Stadium in 2018 and 2021. However, Napier thinks the chances of similar results falling this summer are slim.
“As the losses mount — this defeat coming after the midweek humbling by New Zealand Maori in Hamilton — and troops continue to drop, Ireland’s tour is fast descending into treacherous territory.”
Gregor Paul, also writing for the New Zealand Herald, pointed towards the strengths of the visitors.
“Ireland weren’t so far behind the All Blacks in the core facets of winning the ball and the collisions,” he said. “But they were light years behind in being able to sniff and exploit even a half-chance and the ability of the All Blacks to pounce on counterattack and sense where an opponent is weak remains the gift that they alone possess.
“There was prematch talk of the All Blacks being in terminal decline, but they continue to be blessed with the sharpest instincts in world rugby and the difference between the two teams came down to their respective ability to convert pressure into points. It was here that the All Blacks were lethal.”
Marc Hinton, senior sports writer with the Dominion Post newspaper, chose to pay tribute to the impressive performance of New Zealand’s pack, who he thought helped determine the result.
“Unusual week, unreal response,” he wrote. “The All Blacks were challenged on multiple fronts before this test but their answer on Saturday night at Eden Park was pure class. Not so much a crisis averted as smashed into the ether.
“In Dublin they’d sand kicked in their faces. At Eden Park, as their 28-year unbeaten run continued, the All Blacks walked off with smiles on their dials.”
Patrick McKendry, the digital sports reporter for 1News, was particularly complementary of Ardie Savea’s solo try which extended New Zealand’s lead early in the second half.
“Ardie Savea displayed what can happen when this side combines intelligent pre-match analysis with a skillset that is perhaps beyond most Northern Hemisphere forwards,” he noted.
“We’re talking of course about Savea’s second try, an individual effort in which he ran an outside line to beat Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and then cut back to beat at least two more would-be defenders. The audacity would be beyond most loosies, never mind the ability.”
The only negative tint that appeared in the media was from Robert van Royen who, writing on the Stuff website, warned that that New Zealand flanker Scott Barrett was fortunate to avoid sanction for charging Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony in the head at the base of a ruck.
“Head coach Foster’s biggest concern in the wash-up should be the prospect of receiving news Barrett is cited for his clean out,” he argued. “Nobody should need reminding that Barrett has form and should the citing commissioner deem it warranted a red card, he can expect a lengthy spell on the sidelines,” van Royen continued.
He made this point after Barrett saw red in April for the Crusaders and suffered an initial four-week suspension as a result. Van Royen went on to give consolation points to Ireland for showing signs of menace in the opening exchanges.
“Ireland offered more than many visitors to these shores have at this time of year have, especially in the opening 20 minutes, while the All Blacks’ finish to the first half was them at their clinical best.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments