Two tries: Sonny Bill Williams
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New Zealand bounced back from last week's close call in style with an impressive 60-0 hammering of Ireland in Hamilton on Saturday.
After the heartbreakingly narrow defeat of last week, Ireland were no match for the effervescent All Blacks, who scored four tries in the first 25 minutes and looked dangerous at every turn. Dominated at the tackle - most unlike the Irish - and shredded out wide, the Irish just could not muster the spirit or precision of last week and were plain annihilated.
Perhaps the most satisfying aspect for the ABs was the nilling, however. Tries have never been a problem for this generation, but the fact that Ireland not only didn't score, they had only one kick at goal and barely once got close to crossing the whitewash will be a source of immense pride to Richie McCaw and his men. Ireland's most promising-looking first-half attack ended in a mistake and an All Black try. The overall penalty count against the hosts was ridiculously low.
Within seven minutes New Zealand had the advantage, Sam Cane finishing off a sweeping move out right. On a quarter of an hour Aaron Cruden produced a dart and a brilliant offload to put Sonny Bill Williams through the gap for the second. On 20 minutes it was the Cruden-Williams axis again, this time on a well-timed switch. And on 24 minutes it was an Irish error - Brian O'Driscoll spilling an ill-directed switch pass from Paddy Wallace - that gifted the ball to Cruden. Cruden scorched away and the two Smiths, Conrad and Ben, combined on straight lines and soft hands to send Ben away in the corner. It was all that simple, all that devastating.
The loss of Cruden to injury - a possible worry for both the Chiefs and the All Blacks - stymied the attacking rhythm for a while but did little to change the domination. Beauden Barrett landed a penalty with the final act of the first half, with the penultimate act being a harsh yellow dished out to Rob Kearney for what looked to be a legitimate interception attempt.
Ireland thus spent the first ten minutes of the second half a man down and paid for it with two more tries, one a series of three inside offloads finished off by Cane under the posts, the other a magnificent 50m finish from Hosea Gear. Barrett could only convert one, but that left Ireland trailing 41-0 after 50 minutes; New Zealand were good value for their near point-a-minute ratio and the Irish body count was rising.
Kearney's return changed nothing. Cane slipped a super ball to Messam on an super line for what was New Zealand's 100th-ever try against Ireland. Barrett's indifferent form with the boot continued as a comparatively easy kick bounced off the uprights.
Williams showed a rare glimpse of his complete skill set with a well-judged opportunistic grubber deep for Israel Dagg to run in the eighth try on the hour mark, this time Barrett converting.
New Zealand kept attacking, although some handling errors began to creep in. Ireland looked to move from deeper and deeper, presumably playing right into the hosts' hands. A handling error ten minutes from time and super delay of the pass from Barrett saw Adam Thomson run a direct line home for try number nine.
Ireland rallied hard, determined to get something out of the game, but there was no change to be had. In minutes 79, Keven Mealamu's well-timed charge on Eoin Reddan saw the half-back spill the ball and that was that. Firmly that.
Man of the match: Aaron Cruden was putting in a good claim for this until he went off after 25 minutes, Sonny Bill Williams dominated the centres, but it was Sam Cane whose domination in the loose created the space for his team-mates outside, and brace of tries gave his side a commanding lead.
Moment of the match: The fourth try. As exciting as it was clinical, it was curtains for Ireland after that.
Villain of the match: He reffed well, but for a really poor moment of judgement, referee Romain Poite gets this for the yellow card he dished out to Rob Kearney. Brian O'Driscoll called it 'ridiculous'. He was right.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: Cane 2, Williams 2, B.Smith, Gear, Messam, Dagg, Thomson
Cons: Cruden 3, Barrett 3
Pens: Barrett
Yellow cards: Kearney,40, Ireland - deliberate knock-on
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Richie McCaw (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Beauden Barrett, 22 Tamati Ellison.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Chris Henry, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzere (France), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Comments
usaBok says...
ABs were infinitely better than Aus and SA this week. I think the first Rugby Championship title will go to the All Blacks based on the last 3 weeks of rugby. The Boks just aren't settled yet. They are rebuilding. Australia look pretty solid. But, they need Quade Cooper back and at his best to stand a chance. Argentina will have a hard time winning more than one game. So, my guess is, it will be NZ, Aus, SA, AR as the final standings. Anyone disagree?
Posted 17:07 27th June 2012
three6three6 says...
Carpelone: - ¿The elbow of Gear on Earls was also suspicious.¿ Yes an elbow would have been suspicious... had it indeed been an elbow. The slow motion replay will confirm that it was a shoulder from Gear that did the damage.... this was poor technique from Earls, he should have gone low and hard... but what an utterly magnificent try this one was.... Then again the ABs played so well and managed to score nine tries.....
Who needs Dan Carter? Yer man, Cruden was brilliant and then Barrett was also very assured. As for Richie McCaw playing a bad game.... I am not sure that I was watching the same match that others were watching. In the match that I was watching Richie McCaw was simply magnificent. Ireland may have been more competitive had Heaslip played eighthman but the ABs loose forward trio really were the unsung heroes of this win.... with Richie McCaw leading from the front as usual.
Ireland rugby has been a mixture of success and failure over recent seasons.... the best players in a generation all arrive at one time... and then fail to perform at crucial times.
The only logical conclusion for this mixed record of success is the quality of the coaching! I watched one of the classic matches ¿ Ireland v England (2007) at Croke Park ¿ with each team chasing a Triple Crown. Ireland played the game of their lives and belted England by 47 ¿ 17. There was a long overdue Grand Slam two years later but there has been little else to celebrate in terms of recent success. Wales in comparison have won three Grand Slams in recent times.
It is time to clear out the whole Ireland coaching team and appoint a successful coach who will bring in his own team - hopefully, including some of the less experienced Irish coaches in such a team (much like the Gatland / Edwards / Howley / McBryde team with Wales)
Posted 13:30 27th June 2012
hellovanite says...
anotherfarce.... the wheels started falling off the Ab's when their forwards were challenged.... You wish!
Posted 10:34 27th June 2012
anotherfarce says...
@Trader_No Clue
We will see how invincible "you think" the AB's are after the 4N, they beat a tired Ireland side who have played their toughest matches at the end of a long season & gave it their best shot the week before. Lets see how the Ab forwards go when met with the physicality of the Boks up front. The Irish might not have carried that over into the next match but I'm sure SA will.
One thing picked up by some who know this game well, was how the wheels started falling off the Ab's when their forwards were challenged.
I look forward to your comments post series.
Posted 06:10 26th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@froggy73 who says, "And it was funny. I will stop posting goiong foward and will go back to my old "free" french site." Was it as funny as this posting from you last year??
After the RWC final froggy73 says..."Please do me a favour: can you find for me the video of Rougerie gouging McCaw (not the photo shoot from a dodgy angle, that I don't care) ?." Do come back from time to time and let us know how you get along in the land where the blind more or less have to lead the blind.
Posted 18:28 25th June 2012
powerplay says...
blametheref
Well said!
Posted 14:37 25th June 2012
agardiner22 says...
I am really disappointed and glad its over. where do we go from here????????
Posted 12:27 25th June 2012
blametheref says...
Just shows the level of expectation of Irish fans that is inherent in the Irish team through the complete dearth of pure anger on these boards with our 60-0 demolition...If NZ were beaten 20-0 by Ireland there would be public outcry
The IRFU, the coach and the team are a disgrace, and if they realized that we may be able to realize that Ireland need to make significant changes to the ethos that has festered in Ireland rugby since the cruel sacking of Warren Gatland. Gatland brought the hope of a new dawn but was quickly hacked down to size by the self important egos that exist within the IRFU. Like most things Irish, when higher ups want to veil their shortcomings they appoint one of their own to maintain the cosy cartel. The IRFU have failed miserably with the last 2 coach appointments, and for this we the fans should hold them accountable. Irish rugby belongs to the Irish people not to the IRFU who are the caretakers on our behalf
Posted 11:51 25th June 2012
blametheref says...
Why do the Irish players play with more commitment with their Provinces than the Irish National team? The real answer is supporter expectation rather than rivalry and that lack of expectation with the national team is further watered down by fan expectation because of Irish fan rivalry depending on the number of players from any particular province. Take Leinster 15 years ago, the fans expected the usual low achieving Irish style performances and got them regularly until something unusual happened, a world class player in Brian O' Driscoll appeared on the scene and showed that he was anything but content with the usual moral losses to Munster especially, along with some other fine players like Horgan, Hickie, Gleeson et al. Leinster had to raise the bar, and especially the moral loser mentality and fan expectation, and did so by bringing in good SH coaches to transfer their superior knowledge and mindset into the entire Leinster ethos. It is no surprise that current Irish coach Declan Kidney was quickly let go from Leinster (his style and ethos was all wrong) and that following his departure that Leinster won 3 Heineken Cups under the guidance of an Australian from the legendry Randwick club, Michael Cheika and then current coach New Zealander, Joe Schmidt. Coaches who install and demand 101% player excellence!
Unfortunately for the Irish team the IRFU didn't grasp the nettle when O' Driscoll came along and made a drastic and unforgivable mistake in firing Warren Gatland, nothwithstanding that he improved fan expectation and the players mentality hugely from several years of winning only 1 championship match per season and nearly beating a great AB's team with Lomu. The IRFU are totally to blame for Ireland's underachievement with O' Sullivan and Kidney during the "O' Driscoll era" as these coaches were never near up to the job. Kidney MUST go!
Posted 10:59 25th June 2012
hellovanite says...
Isa Nacewa hahaha don't make me laugh, you do realise that if he was eligible to play for anyone else other than Fiji he would still be in New Zealand where he was born, he's a kiwi. He made a decision early in his career and an ill informed one at that. He tried to switch back to NZ in 2006 but was rejected under the IRB regulations. Real shame always thought Isa was bloody brilliant and would have been an AB without any doubt! So no chance at a jersey equals payday in the UK. Anyway you'd be better served finding young Irish talent and developing it rather than using imports. Otherwise it's just a bandaid isn't it
Posted 09:04 25th June 2012
froggy73 says...
@PR - I'm disappointed you did not bother publishing my post. Though it was just a sentence in French, anyone with basic scholar French would have got it. And it was funny. I will stop posting goiong foward and will go back to my old "free" french site.
The editor says.... @froggy73: Notre politique ne permet pas de commentaires en d¿autres langues. Jusqu¿o¿ allons-nous si nous permettons les commentaires en Fran¿s ? Fidjien ? Merci de prendre en consid¿tion les autres lecteurs et de poster vos commentaires en fran¿s. Merci
Posted 08:44 25th June 2012
porridge_time says...
Isa Nacewa will never be eligible for Ireland due to the fact he committed himself to Fiji at 2003 World Cup.
Posted 01:20 25th June 2012
crunchfit says...
Glad I didn't get up for this. I was expecting a big loss, but not that big...
@Headhunter99
You don't seem to know much about Irish rugby so why are you commenting? At least read up on what you're trying to discuss.
@2EyedKiwi
I said BOD was done last year, but he's not. He's not what he used to be, but he's still a good player. He may have had a bad game in the third test, but he has been having great performances otherwise since he had the injury fixed. Not to mention he doesn't want to retire.
Posted 22:04 24th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@all Irish supporters, Apologies if this seems like a troll. I swear that it is not meant to be. Serious question: Is it possible that the problem with the Irish Team is simply that it isn't a national team? When I hear you lot going on at each other across the divide between the Republic and NI, I wonder how you can play rugby on the same team. Do you sit in different parts of the bus? (BTW I travel on an Irish passport...I am what you so generously call a "plastic paddy")
Posted 21:03 24th June 2012
makemehappy says...
@binary20012081 - Let's be honest, there are a fair number of foreign imports in some of the irish teams. You can hardly say that Ulster don't have many can you? As for Nacewa playing for Ireland, do you intend to erase his record for Fiji? Perhaps you might want to count the number of foreign players in http://www.ulsterrugby.com/rugby/ulster_first_team.php . Leinster aren't as bad, but try counting again - this time with http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/profiles/index.php - I think you don't have an argument, so perhaps you might want to apologise to your colleague Headhunter99 for a ridiculous outburst?!
Posted 20:23 24th June 2012
minkusbc says...
A year or so ago I watched Ireland play Canada in Vancouver, BC. Canada and Ireland were two points apart when Canada's Adam Klieberger was yellow-carded for exactly the same thing that Kearney was yellow-carded for. Ireland scored about 15 points during the 10 minutes that Klieberger was off the field and the game was over. In the Ireland-New Zealand game it was already over when Kearny was sin-binned, however, what helped Ireland against Canada, came back to haunt them against New Zealand.
Posted 18:23 24th June 2012
Headhunter99 says...
@binary20012081 - Not going to disagree with you " The Irish International Team is a joke " your words.... I was trying to [point out that that esteemed Irish pundit Paul Wallace was trying to fathom out the reasons the Irish perform at province level but not as an International side.
To be honest the longer the IRFU keep Kidney the happier I'll be...on a serious note how do you think this beating will affect some of the players ? If you recall Englands tour of hell saw the international disappearance of quite a number tipped England stars.
Posted 17:48 24th June 2012
BillyMutt2 says...
@lacroix: "interesting to see Mccaw putting in another poor perfomance though". You either know nothing about rugby, or you watched a different game, or you're one of those silly little McCaw bashers (read: secret admirers). I suspect all of the above.
Posted 17:15 24th June 2012
The_Dange says...
@binary20012081
Although I agree with your sentiment, Isa Nacewa can never play for Ireland as he is capped by Fiji.
Posted 17:08 24th June 2012
KiwiJoe says...
Don,t know if anyone else noticed but that looked like a good old "hiding" from where I,m standing.
Ireland will need to get better.
Posted 16:54 24th June 2012