How New Zealand's media reacted to 'Disaster in Dunedin'
After singing the All Blacks praises last weekend, New Zealand’s rugby media were more muted in their assessments of Ireland’s historic 23-12 win in Dunedin.
It was the first time the northern hemisphere side had won in New Zealand and crucially levelled the three-match series to set up a decider in Wellington.
Discipline proved an issue for the All Blacks which frustrated many corners of the media, as they had three players sinbinned in the first half alone and were forced at one point to play with 13 men.
To make matters worse, replacement prop Angus Ta’avao was shown red in the 31st minute for clashing heads with Gary Ringrose in a tackle.
Following this, the 14 men of New Zealand struggled to take charge and were crippled by two Andrew Porter tries, scored either side of halftime.
Consolation tries from Beauden Barrett and Will Jordan were not enough to prevent Ireland claiming a fourth win in the last seven meetings between the sides, a statistic that has left the home team’s media incensed.
Gregor Paul, writing for the New Zealand Herald, did not mince his words when arguing the result was further proof of New Zealand’s sad decline.
“It will forever be known as the disaster in Dunedin,” he wrote. “From being heroic in the first test, the All Blacks were catastrophic in the second.
“The All Blacks took one step forward last week, they took at least two if not three back in Dunedin and while their list of faults was long and comprehensive, the nuts and bolts of their demise could be summed up by saying they lacked physicality and imagination.
“The All Blacks were passive and insipid, saved from humiliation only by their miraculous scrambling defence which was brilliant. But the All Blacks can’t survive in the rarefied air of test rugby by spending most of the game on their own goal line and given their recidivist offending in the art of muscling up, it is now increasingly difficult to see how the coaching team can survive.”
Hayden Meikle adopted a similar perspective when penning his assessments for the Otago Daily Times, comparing the physicality of Ireland with the absurdity which New Zealand succumbed to.
“It was a humbling night for the All Blacks, who were comprehensively out-played, just a week after crushing Ireland in the first test.
“It was their first loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium, and their heaviest loss in Dunedin in history. They struggled for any attacking fluency, and their shocking discipline and error rate gave them little hope of staying with the rampant Irish.”
1 – New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have all lost at home on the same day for the first time in men’s Test rugby history; in fact, it’s just the third time overall that they’ve lost on the same day (also 09/11/2002 & 20/11/2021). Toppled.
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) July 9, 2022
It was not all praise for Ireland from Meikle who cited their lack of killer instinct in the face of valiant defensive resolve from their opponents.
“The All Blacks at least scrambled well on defence to keep the scoreline reasonable, but this was a night to forget for Ian Foster’s men.
“The Irish dominated possession but wasted lots of opportunities and only led 10-7 at halftime. The All Blacks had been thoroughly out-played but were still well in the game at halftime.
“By the final whistle, though, only Irish eyes were smiling.”
Liam Napier of the New Zealand Herald was not as scathing when reflecting on the home team’s performance, drawing attention to the battling spirit the side showcased.
“Ian Foster’s men fought gallantly throughout but as the match wore on and fatigue set in, attacking errors compounded as they attempted to launch an improbable comeback.
“In many respects, Ireland made hard work of their significant advantage but through two tries to prop Andrew Porter and Jonathan Sexton’s boot, they gradually pushed clear to hand the All Blacks their first home defeat since September 2018.”
Richard Knowler of Stuff enjoyed the freneticism of the test match and commended Johnny Sexton’s captaincy and the defensive effort of the All Blacks.
“This wasn’t flawless rugby, far from it, but it overflowed with controversy, confusion, entertainment and sheer blood-and-guts action.
“Now the All Blacks and Ireland, who were superbly captained by the cool-headed Johnny Sexton, head to Wellington to decide the winner of the three-test series.
“The All Blacks’ defensive work in the final minutes of the first stanza was remarkable.”
Stuff’s Aaron Goile added to this assessment by pointing out the ramifications of the deceive loss.
“When the world rankings are officially updated on Monday, the All Blacks will drop to fourth. That is New Zealand’s lowest-ever position on the chart, since they were introduced in 2003.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to comments