Julian Savea: First All Black to get a hat-trick against Ireland
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All Blacks wing Julian Savea scored a hat-trick on debut to help the world champions to a comprehensive 42-10 win over Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
The talented speedster crossed twice in the first half and again after the break to cap a memorable night in his first Test outing for New Zealand, as the home side opened their 2012 account with a bang.
The win also saw the All Blacks extend their winning run at Eden Park to 28 Tests, dating back to 1994.
The visitors were outscored five tries to one, and based on this quality performance from the hosts, it looks like Ireland will have to wait a little longer for that elusive victory over the men in black.
Whilst the scoreline resembles one-way traffic, it took a while for New Zealand to click into a gear as the Irish threatened to give the home side a run for their money early on - Rob Kearney in particular impressing with ball in hand.
But with the scores level 3-3 after fly-halves Dan Carter and Jonathan Sexton traded penalties between them, the All Blacks started to find some rhythm.
Carter, who produced a near flawless display from the tee, added two more penalties from 50m out to stretch his side's lead to 9-3 before Savea struck with his first try in the 25th minute and New Zealand never looked back.
Ireland kicked away possession, not for the first time, and Zac Guildford got away with a fumble that saw the ball roll sideways. From there, the All Blacks were able to send it wide to Conrad Smith, who switched with Sonny Bill Williams. The inside centre made one of his trademark one-hand offloads to Carter and he sent Savea away for his first Test try.
Carter converted from bang in front, and the writing was on the wall for Ireland as Savea was once again the man of the moment after crossing over out wide for try number two just before half-time.
Carter was on target once again with the touchline conversion to give the All Blacks a deserved 23-3 lead at half-time, leaving Ireland with a hill to climb after the break.
The hill became a mountain after Savea was celebrating his hat-trick three minutes into the second half. The Hurricanes flyer had Israel Dagg to thank after the full-back drew in the cover defence - following some good interplay between Conrad Smith and Kieran Read in midfield - to put Savea over in the corner.
Carter raised the flags to make it 30-3 and the result was all but sealed. That was until the Irish finally hit back through a try by Fergus McFadden who, after a turnover, chased a kick ahead from Sexton and beat Richie McCaw to the ball for a seven-pointer.
With Ireland now in double figures, the green army of supporters were given a glimmer of hope. However, it wouldn't last long as normal activity resumed shortly after when Read broke away from the back of a 5m scrum and gave the try-scoring pass to replacement Adam Thomson.
Both teams rang the changes with 20 minutes remaining and Ireland weathered another spell of pressure from the home team and looked to have clawed themselves back into a respectable position when McFadden outsprinted Dagg 80 metres to score under the posts. But referee Nigel Owens had already called back play for an Irish offside.
There was further reason for Irish hearts to flutter in the final minutes as loosehead prop Cian Healy was injured and replaced by hooker Sean Cronin.
Conrad Smith was then rewarded for a fantastic performance when he dived over to the right of the posts after a slick pass from replacement Aaron Cruden. Carter added the extras to make it a 32-point buffer and give the Irish plenty to ponder ahead of next week's second Test in Christchurch.
Man of the match: For Ireland, Sean O'Brien and Rory Best were the pick of the forwards while Rob Kearney was a pillar of strength at the back. New Zealand number eight Kieran Read proved why he's rated the best in his position, while Carter was his influential self at 10 - finishing with a match haul of 17 points. Scrum-half Aaron Smith produced an outstanding debut with his rapid service keeping the backline moving, but wing Julian Savea gets our vote. A constant threat out wide, the 21-year-old made history by becoming the first All Black to get a hat-trick against Ireland in only his first Test appearance.
Moment of the match: Even though there were six tries scored in all, we've opted for Savea's bone-crunching hit on Kearney that proved New Zealand's hat-trick hero is no slouch on defence either.
Villain of the match: No cards, but the Irish got out of jail a few times when holding back All Black players on the attack.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: Savea 3, Thomson, C Smith
Cons: Carter 4
Pens: Carter 3
For Ireland:
Try: McFadden
Pen: Sexton
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Keith Earls, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Touhy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Darren Cave.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Comments
makemehappy says...
Is there anyone in the world that doesn't think that NZ aren't the best and most promising team in the world? I was hugely impressed. Just a different class to the rest of the world. If you don't think so - go watch football!
Posted 22:21 09th June 2012
rangdaddy says...
Prior to the game, Best was banging on that the gap between Ireland the AB's was closing - well okay, on this performance the 50 point smacking has been reduced to a 30 point blasting. Enough talking and play better rugby Ireland - the typical first 20 minutes of fire and brimstone needs to be played out over 80 minutes! The AB's didn't even play that well and still hammered Ireland - this is a worry as the score could/should have been 60 odd to 10!
Posted 22:18 09th June 2012
liam2me says...
@Melkdave,
Not a bad selection but there's no way McFadden should still be in the side. He was the worst player on the park.
I would keep Fitzpatrick at 3, otherwise I agree with you up to 10. From there I would have the same back line as today except Trimble replacing McFadden. That was BOD's worst ever performance in green and I doubt he will repeat it. Earls was the best of the backs so I don't see the need to move him.
Posted 22:05 09th June 2012
rangdaddy says...
30 points plus victory - as stated - if Ireland continue to kick possession away they will lose by more as this was a great first hit out for the All Blacks - who are traditionally slow starters at the beginning of the international test season. Keith Earls and BOD were both ineffective, didn't do anything! Earls in particular needs to go - club player in NZ!
Posted 21:52 09th June 2012
mew2000 says...
lacroix
owens is clearly the best ref in the world currently. one bad decision for all blacks second penalty and missed a couple of blatant offsides on both teams, but three errors in a game of that pace is a pretty stellar perfomance. had he been refing the world cup final france would be world champs. :)
please, get real! IF carter was fit we would have won by more than 10+ against the french.... Judgeing by that at the last world cup where NZ were ROBBED by woeful ref'ing from Barnes then what's not to say when NZ couldn't have won that world cup too?
Posted 21:48 09th June 2012
KiwiLad says...
Bokavenger, jealousy is such a horrible emotion.
Posted 21:40 09th June 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
bokracist, you constantly defame NZ to the point where I believe its bordering on racism. You believe we're cheats and I believe you're a racist. Like I said earlier, if you don't like NZ then don't watch us.
Posted 21:30 09th June 2012
melkdave says...
Ok after that masterclass from the ABs ,heres my team for the 2 test for Ireland
1)Healey 2)Best 3)Ross (if fit) 4)Touhy 5)Ryan 6)Henry 7)O'Mahony 8)O'Brian 9)Redden 10)Sexton 11)Earls 12)BOD 13Trimble14)McFadden 15)Kearney
I know its radical having Trimble at 13 ,but he started as a center even at international leval ,and his tackaling is alot better than D'Acys or Earls imo,and he is stil capable of making breaks.Heslip and Murray have to be dropped from the 15 with Marshal replacing Murray in the 22 Heslip just holds onto a bench place ,because Ireland havent anyone else really
Also @golen_statenba is completly correct in how the monikier All Blacks came about,it was a printing error in a newspaper should have been All Backs its as ,simple as that .So please no more rubbish concerning it.Dont really think it will stop annother NZ victory ,but hopefully it will be by 5-10 points rather than the 20-30 points they usually get against Ireland
Posted 20:43 09th June 2012
golden_statenba says...
Tutt Tutt dont lie BokAvenger
"All Blacks" first appeared during the Originals tour when, according to Billy Wallace, a London newspaper reported that the New Zealanders played as if they were "all backs".[97] Wallace claimed that due to a typographical error, subsequent references were to "All Blacks".
Posted 19:27 09th June 2012
GCP_JONES says...
Just seen the match,do you think that Steve Hansen could let Kieran Reid (an excellent display by him) go to the our training camp for few sessions and remind Jamie Heaslip how to play like a No 8. Heaslip you have become a pop-star sportsman
Deccie you have been positively daring (by your own standards) in your team selection for the 1st test, there are several changes you should make for next weekend, starting with Reddan at 9 but PLEASE, PLEASE, let O'Brien play at 8.
Posted 19:10 09th June 2012
dwayne says...
PR by standing by and allowing racist taunts week after week, you are just as responsible.
Posted 18:42 09th June 2012
sextons_on_fire says...
@liam2me Hopelessly one-eyed and embarrassingly wrong, as per usual hahaha...Zebo did actually show us what he can do: he pulled off his now-famous impersonation of a turnstile for Savea's 3rd try hahahahaaaaa BOOM...and Earls was rubbish, as always. A mystery that he keeps getting picked. He doesn't even look like a rugby player...he would look more at home out in the bog snaffling for neeps...LOL
Posted 18:29 09th June 2012
robski says...
I understand the Northern Hemisphere teams are at the end of their Rugby season and players are tired...blah blah blah. Why then does the AB's manage to go North at the end of their season and still manage a Grand Slam?
Please no excuses, they just got hammered. They'll learn from that and the other two games will be much closer.
Posted 15:56 09th June 2012
liam2me says...
Where to begin to take that apart? The tight 5 played well enough, looks like we may have a new TH. SOB was probably Ireland best performer, was unfairly pinged at the breakdown a number of times. POM did well, made his tackles. Heaslip however was his usual useless self, in fact he was worse, giving away stupid needless penalties. Would much prefer to see SOB moved to 8, POM to 7 and anyone else at 6 (in Ferris' absence)
The backs were a totally different story and is where we were destroyed. Murray was poor, Sexton was non-existent, BOD had his worst ever game in a green jersey, McFadden was the worst player on the park and Kearney wasn't his usual self. Earls was the only bright spark and Zebo didn't get much ball to show what he can do.
Posted 15:29 09th June 2012
davodiablo says...
@ PR ...Where is the line in the sand . When will you say enough is enough and stop printing the posts from a certain troll ?I'm beginning to think you get paid for forum hits by the banner advertisers and that any old troll post is acceptable.
Posted 15:23 09th June 2012
moosh says...
@hayj05 - it wasn't a factor today but you have to admit that the ABs do sometimes seem to be subject to a different set of rules when it comes to what constitutes lying on the wrong side of the ruck. As in, when other teams do it, they tend to be penalised. When the ABs do it, they tend not to be. (RWC final 2011 the best recent example). They are undoubtedly the best team in the world but it rankles to see them also get favourable decisions.
Posted 14:57 09th June 2012
lacroix says...
ireland eviscerated. outplayed from 1 to 15 except , ironically, at 7. mccaw was poor.
i think ireland have a problem at scrum half and their front row is suspect.
owens is clearly the best ref in the world currently. one bad decision for all blacks second penalty and missed a couple of blatant offsides on both teams, but three errors in a game of that pace is a pretty stellar perfomance. had he been refing the world cup final france would be world champs. :)
Posted 14:53 09th June 2012
moosh says...
For a while now, Ireland have looked less than the sum of their parts. I know that big-name players were out today but over the last two seasons Ireland have consistently under-performed, with only two performances (England in Dublin and Australia at RWC) where they really clicked.
Also, I'm starting to think that the two-man choke-tackle that Irish commentators and supporters love to praise has unintentionally created weaknesses in Ireland's game. Ireland's first-up defenders were too high too often today, and the ABs were powering through defenders, often enough to get their arms free, thereby negating the whole purpose of the choke tackle in the first place.
NZ do their rugby homework better than anyone and I don't think this is coincidence. Ireland should change tactics and move the balance back towards ferocity in the tackle - it's much more difficult to pull off a slick offload when you're travelling backwards. Against a team as gifted and ruthless as NZ, the marginal turnover/penalty return from the choke-tackle isn't fair compensation for the momentum that the opposition can gain from the less physical first-up hits.
I'm not saying it's never a good idea to choke tackle. I just think - in total agreement with @J_HDK - that the strategy has to be a little more adaptive when you're playing the best team in the world.
Posted 14:47 09th June 2012
hougiebear says...
We were crap, no point in going to NZ to play them 3 times when going off the season we've had we are far from the standard required to compete with them..totally ridiculous and embarrassing.
Posted 14:40 09th June 2012
amaboko says...
I can`t stand those gorilla All Blacks. It`s just rubbish that such a fine sport is ruined by this NZ domination. Immensely sad! I have seen nothing of this sort in any other sport on this planet. I just can`t understand why those NH sides want to play south, just to get smacked every time. It should be painful enough to loose at world cup but after that one should forget the south exists. Everybody talks about the shrinking gap, but once you have seen a FEW games one can understand that`s just nonsense. Aussies have speed and intelligence, Boks have force and organization but the blacks seem to come from another planet. It`s just as the game was made for them. It`s so unjust for a side to win all the time. It just kills the competition. I already feel sorry for my dear boks. I would like the be some truth in the bokavenger sayings, just to give a sense of rationality to this NZ invincibility. The haka is just stupid and ridiculous but since people are generally stupid they like those players grimaces and twisting (this is why I call them AB gorillas). We should stop watching AB playing but one cannot hope that just in this game they will loose, or maybe the next...it almost never happens.
Posted 14:28 09th June 2012