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The lessons the All Blacks learned after 2019 quarter-final win over Ireland
The All Blacks made a statement with a 46-14 quarter-final win over Ireland at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, but the New Zealanders were bested a week later against England.
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It all started with an Owen Farrell smirk, too. The English playmaker accepted the challenge of the haka, and that response set the tone for what ended up being a famous 19-7 win in Yokohama.
Four years later, with the pain of defeat still fresh in their minds, the All Blacks are in an eerily similar situation. New Zealand beat Ireland 28-24 in a thriller at Stade de France on Saturday and they’ll face southern hemisphere rivals Argentina in a semi-final next week.
The All Blacks “have already been thinking about” how they avoid repeating history by backing up their headline-grabbing victory over Ireland with another strong performance in the semi-finals.
“I guess an answer from me would be the week and the way we prepare during that week,” assistant coach Scott McLeod told reporters. “I thought last week our detail and our energy and our focus was top class and it gave the players confidence to go out and execute that.
“2019, we didn’t do that as well in our week leading into England. It’s not necessarily the opposition, it’s just the quality of what we put into the week. There were a couple of bits and pieces there, our captain Kieran Read couldn’t train and there were disruptions.
“So, we have to make sure that we don’t have those disruptions and we build the week with the quality and the focus that we did last week.”
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McLeod confirmed that there were no “significant” injuries to report after New Zealand’s tense win over world No. 1 Ireland. Coach Ian Foster also confirmed earlier in the week that Mark Telea would be available for a semi after being stood down for the Irish showdown.
The All Blacks got off to a rocky start against Ireland with Aaron Smith throwing an uncharacteristically poor pass and some of his teammates made clear errors as well. It wasn’t an idyllic start as the New Zealanders began to settle into knockout footy.
But once they found their groove, the All Blacks were on. Richie Mo’unga kicked an early penalty goal and a Leicester Fainga’anuku try shortly saw the Kiwis race out to a commanding lead. But Ireland refused to throw in the towel, although they failed to snatch the lead from their opponents.
With the try-line in sight, it came down to 37 phases of attacking pressure from the Irish at the death. Veteran Sam Whitelock won a breakdown penalty for the All Blacks and the rest is history.
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“We had to make 276 tackles last night and 100 of those were in the last quarter, and particularly in that last 37 phases. You know, the most we’ve had to make in this tournament, or attempt to make was 137 against Italy,” McLeod added.
“So, there’s a huge amount of care and a huge amount of ticker I guess, Kiwi ticker in you like, that we wanted to get the job done. I am really proud of our execution in that zone but also our decision-making. The ball wasn’t there to take a number of times and we had to wait for the moment and then execute really well. You know, Sam Whitelock put himself in the position twice to do that and so did Ardie [Savea] and we finally got it.
“We finally got it after that 37th phase and the boys are really happy with that.”
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