'South Africa, on their day, would have pumped this All Black team'

Former Ireland winger Shane Horgan believes South Africa would have pumped the New Zealand side that beat Ireland 23-13 in the Aviva Stadium last night.

Ireland’s 19-match winning streak in Dublin was snapped by Scott Robertson’s All Blacks, marking another disappointment following last year’s narrow Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat. A try from Will Jordan and six penalties from Damian McKenzie were enough in an attritional match where Ireland struggled to find their rhythm thanks to mistake upon mistake from Andy Farrell’s men.

Speaking on Virgin Media Sports in Ireland, Horgan said his former side will need to up their game if they want to consistently beat top-level sides like South Africa and New Zealand, suggesting that maybe an expectation of victory may have played a part in the loss.

The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

“It was a missed opportunity. Ireland were poor across the board,” said Horgan. “There were some sparks of life in defence, but generally, poor passing, inside shoulder balls, balls on the deck, too many knock-ons. They played in the wrong areas of the field and couldn’t retain possession.”

“You’re right,” he continued, “this isn’t a particularly brilliant iteration of the All Blacks. South Africa, on their day, would have pumped this All Black team tonight, and that’s the disappointing thing. Ireland are meant to be the number one team in the world, and they looked a long, long way from it today.”

“I think it demonstrates that there’s maybe only two, maybe three teams in the world at the moment that Ireland can’t play in neutral and beat,” said Horgan. “There’s a lot of games in the Six Nations where Ireland aren’t great, but they get over the line, and that’s the quality of the opposition.

“But you play New Zealand, you play South Africa, and consistently, you have to deliver a really tight, high-end performance. No matter what sort of iteration of New Zealand or South Africa it is, you just have to, because they play at a different level.

“At some point, you have to be able to say, ‘We are a top-quality team.’ We’ve just beaten South Africa in South Africa—the world champions and world number one by a long way. We’re playing at home; we should beat this opposition. So, I think it’s legitimate to say we were confident going into this game.

“I don’t think there’s a lack of respect, and I don’t necessarily think there’s an overconfidence. I just think they didn’t deliver a performance, and if you don’t deliver, you’re not going to beat New Zealand.”