‘Proud All Black’ Jordie Barrett reflects on ‘impressive’ defence against Ireland
About an hour after the full-time whistle sounded at Stade de France, a relieved-looking Jordie Barrett walked through the mixed zone. The All Blacks are semi-final bound, and their win over Ireland will echo throughout history as an all-time classic.
Playing in front of more than 78,000 passionate fans at the Parisian venue on Saturday, the All Blacks overcame a penalty try and two yellow cards to pile more quarter-final misery on the Irish.
With the All Blacks leading 28-24 in the dying stages, Ireland threw more than 35 phases of attack at a solid All Blacks defensive wall as they fought valiantly for what would’ve been a match-winning score. Some cracks emerged, sure, but the New Zealanders held on.
151-Test veteran Sam Whitelock was the hero as the towering lock brought an end to Ireland’s attacking assault with a penalty at the breakdown. New Zealanders went berserk as the Irish fans fell uncharacteristically quiet.
Ireland’s 17-Test unbeaten streak had come to an agonising end as the All Blacks inflicted another quarter-final defeat upon the Irish. New Zealand will play southern hemisphere rivals Argentina in a semi-final next weekend.
As the old sports adage goes, defence wins championships.
“I think the most impressive thing is the control and mental resilience,” All Black Jordie Barrett told reporters just after midnight on Sunday morning.
“To not give away a penalty and then Sammy Whitelock, 151 Tests now, to come up with a play like that (is) unbelievable.
“We’ve got a defence system there that (assistant coach) Scott McLeod has built – we built it basically for Ireland. Had to defend a lot together, their short passes going out the back to Sexton, they just pick you off if you’re a bit wide.
“It was just our system working and obviously some great ticker in that last play.”
The horrors, agony and disappointment of last year’s historic series defeat to Ireland on New Zealand soil will never be forgotten but the 2023 All Blacks have claimed some much-needed revenge on the biggest stage.
It didn’t come easy, either.
Rugby World Cup winners Aaron Smith and Codie Taylor were both sent to the sin bin as New Zealand played a quarter of the Test with 14 men. During that period, centre Barrett pulled off an incredible try-saving tackle to keep the lead in the All Blacks’ favour.
“In those moments it’s just about showing as much care as you can and it’s not hard to show care when you’re a proud All Black and you’re trying to win a game for your country,” Barrett continued. “You get off the ground pretty quickly when that’s at stake against the best team in the world.
“Just unbelievable ticker and I wasn’t gonna let that one try slip.
“Their one to eight have such a good short passing game and they’ll pick you off if you’re defending wide or you’re biting on defenders. It was just about staying connected and discipline our system as much as possible.
“They still found holes, that’s how good they are. We’re just lucky that we got to show a little bit more.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Just came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to comments