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
InternationalXV says...
Doesn't really matter who you support. You have to applaud and appreciate good rugby.
Posted 16:50 23rd June 2012
Rosbif says...
@vonvon. hehehe, i like your sense of humour :-)
@Jaystarr. i hear you re the ref, i really do. he looked a lost soul and seemed irrelevant in the players minds. also was very poorly aided by his assistants re fwd passes and knock-ons. but he certainly let it flow! contrast CJ's (unusually below par for him) performance in the earlier game, ie made all the right calls, but seemed inadvertently to stop the game in its tracks.... i guess you just can't win as a ref.... and you certainly can't please all the people all the time....
Posted 16:25 23rd June 2012
anotherfarce says...
Ouch!!
Posted 15:15 23rd June 2012
Trader2 says...
Hmmm well thought maybe 15-20 points but 60 is a bit silly really. Interesting the Wannabies were woeful the AB's were sublime and their next match is against each other in Sydney. What they showed tonight was intensity and that NZ's depth is without peer. As mentioned before the game the newbies really performed and that was the big plus. What can you say about the Irish well that big heart they showed last week just gave out tonight and it was a little sad to see but the gulf in class was there in the 1st test and they were just not anywhere close tonight. I believe I have only seen the AB's play the perfect game once, at Athletic Park in Wellington in 1996 (I think) when they beat the Wannabies 43-6, tonight was not perfect so good to have some things to work on.
Posted 15:13 23rd June 2012
quietbrit says...
The really scary thing about this is how many first choice NZ players were absent...
Still an incredible display from the ABs - especially not conceding a single point, that more than the margin or similar reveals how complete their game was...
Posted 15:13 23rd June 2012
blametheref says...
@powerplay
As I don't know enough about the good SH coaches, which we need, that's a tough one, as to who should coach Ireland, I feel a New Zealander would be best as I feel Ireland relate better, or more to the point respect and respond better to the New Zealand ethos and style of rugby coach, as against what a South African would bring to the table, for example. We don't have the huge grizzly forwards South African's are used to....A lot of Irish would say Joe Schmidt of Leinster, but I disagree as he is now immersed in the Leinster way and if he brought that to the national team it could backfire with regard to this weird provincal rivalry we have with Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht....Proof of this rivalry malaise at work in the Irish team is that we can beat strong Welsh and French club teams more times than not and yet when we play their national teams we get beaten more times than not....Declan Kidney identified this problem, but his problem, being a former Munster coach was that he couldn't remove himself from the Munster mindset and therefore couldn't sort it out. The proof's there in today's result, where we witnessed what we'd never witness in our provincial teams, a soft, uncohesive and inconsistant underbelly...Any new coach needs a clean sheet and importantly no restrictions on his selection policy.
I felt for Paddy Wallace today, especially a close up of him when we went about 40 points down, he was at sea, elsewhere, knowing he was way off the standard required at this level. How he must wish he stayed on the beach in Portugal knowing now that he will most likely never wear the green shirt ever again
Posted 15:04 23rd June 2012
Dingbat32 says...
That is an awesome result for NZ and really lays down the challenge for SA, Oz and Argies! I cant see Ireland recovering from this after a steady decline in recent seasons and expect a poor few years from them now.
Posted 15:03 23rd June 2012
TVaddict says...
@blametheref
Totally agree that Kidney has to go. I was surprised that he stayed after the world cup, but I guess the win over Australia probably meant he just about kept it. He's had great players in his squad, and a long time, but can't get them to play anywhere near to their potential. Maybe convince Schmidt to take the top job?
Posted 14:56 23rd June 2012
kiwieire02 says...
What impressed me was Cruden's variation of plays at the start of the game which caused the Irish defense to second guess themselves. Especially the little kicks in behind Ireland's rush defense which caused the Irish to stop rushing up, which then gave the All Blacks backline the time and space they wanted. Also well done Beauden Barrett bar a few missed kicks he slotted perfectly into the All Black backline, I had my doubts whether he was ready for internationals yet but I happily admit I was wrong.
Posted 14:53 23rd June 2012
robski says...
I was called arrogant last week for predicting a cricket score this week... I honestly thought the AB's were only going to win by 40ish. Guess they made me look really stupid.
Ireland should hold their heads up high. Their chance to win was last week and they didn't take their chances then. Just put this one down as more experience, they have the skill and determination to beat the AB's but lack that ability to keep up the intensity for the full 80. Predicting a win for the Irish over the AB's before or at the next world cup. :)
Posted 14:07 23rd June 2012
jonesy2 says...
Kimbriki -- youre having a laugh clearly, earls should be fined for pitch invasion, he surely isnt a picked international rugby player?
Posted 14:01 23rd June 2012
Trinats2 says...
Didn't watch the game, but Ireland with 14 men ?? I can see why they were worried about the ref before the game. Ireland must have been very poor for williams to get a couple !!!
Great result NZ, gotta feel for Ireland.
Posted 13:44 23rd June 2012
rangdaddy says...
Ireland were bloody terrible - totally outclassed by an AB team that had a point to prove. Ireland have some fantastic players (Cian Healy - he is immense;Kearney and Sexton are quality) but building for the future requires the likes of BOD, ROG and the rest of the older guard to step aside. Sad as it may be, these players are no longer as good as they were. The All Black team that humiliated Ireland today is missing so many starters that you can only feel sorry for Irelands lack of quality depth, imagination and skill set. All Blacks walked the walk and the Irish management/team leaders were full of talk - well done AB's for giving it to the critics!!!
Posted 13:08 23rd June 2012
Vonvon says...
Terrible display by the ref that gave 9 tries to the AB...
Posted 12:46 23rd June 2012
startledwombat says...
So disappointed for the Irish after last week's champion effort.
Anyone predicting 60-0 before the game would have looked like a madman!
It's bizarre that the evidence is that NZ doesn't need Dan Carter. Desirable to have him in the team, yes, but an essential prerequisite for success? No.
Posted 12:45 23rd June 2012
powerplay says...
@blametheref
Hard luck to you guys, I sympathise with what you say! Who do you reckon then should coach Ireland? Or is it a matter of, who cares, just get the current coach out of there now!!!??
Posted 12:43 23rd June 2012
passtheball says...
Will have to watch again to see if the ABs were as good as they seemed. Defense was immense with the loose forwards to the fore. Hard to see how Gear or Sivivatu missed the W Cup squad - no substitute for pace and ... power. Romano and Barrett had a great debuts and Cane is as good as they predicted years ago. The Baby Blacks could have done with Savea, Perenara, Retallick and Tumeifuna - they were lacking in big game players.
Posted 12:40 23rd June 2012
TheRussian says...
Who saw that coming? Had some calls go our way especially early in the test, but you can't argue 80 - zip. All teams tend to get the run of the green at home. Irish guy injured in the fend had poor tecnique, should have gone low and hard. Gear is too strong one on one to go high on. As for the yellow, fair call watch the replay -player was knocking it away was just lucky how it popped up and made it look like he was trying to intercept. At normal speed looked legit.
Hopefully the ABs learnt a lesson in that scrum where we went backwards, about staying properly bound and pushing with 8. Loved seeing the AB forwards hunting as a pack for the full 80, very hard to beat when they are like that. Championship will be entirely different and new set of challenges, another raise in intensity.Young new team though, don't forget last week wouldn't be surprised to drop a few games in the championship.
Posted 12:21 23rd June 2012
hellovanite says...
Too good by far. I would point out that it is pretty obvious that the score line reflects not only the ABs support play and intensity around the rucks, but also the conditions. Ergo.. you play the ABs in crap weather and you've got a better chance, you play them on a dry track and your odds go out. Fair play to the Irish would have preferred mud and sleet in the bitter cold I'm sure
Posted 12:14 23rd June 2012
ImLaigheanIt says...
I do despair of this Ireland team...they produce a magnificent performance roughly once every 12 months, then the rest is just depressing mediocrity.
Kidney, it serves you right for not picking James Downey (I don't care what others say. He should be in the squad, and that's a fact). Can we please get Kidney the f**k out and get Joe Schmidt in?
Posted 12:13 23rd June 2012