Julian Savea: First All Black to get a hat-trick against Ireland
Related links
Teams
Also see
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
sandal says...
@Jcahill1
You say: ""That is ridiculous a penalty try can only be given if it was a CERTAIN try.""
That is not what the rule book says. (This point has been made, year in, year out, for decades now.)
And I have seen penalty tries awarded in test matches for the offence of deliberate offside at a set piece close to the tryline.
The alternative would have been to award yellow cards against every Irish back who deliberately went offside at the scrum in question. I counted two. But what if there were more? Three, four, five yellow cards? I am sure Ireland would have preferred conceding a penalty try to receiving even two yellow cards.
Posted 04:45 11th June 2012
sandal says...
@BokAvenger
Usually I ignore your contributions.
Your question, however -- "" ... why dissing the All Blacks is racist?"" -- cannot go unanswered.
There is nothing racist about dissing the All Blacks per se.
But there have been instances recently when people have mocked the All Blacks on the basis of players' ethnicity.
One person said ""you get islanders to play your rugby for you"". The All Blacks are NZers, whether they be of Pacific Island, European, Maori ethnicity or any other kind. The phrase "your rugby", as used by that correspondent, excludes people of island ethnicity from the NZ rugby community. Well, let me assure you: "our rugby" is played by people of several ethnicities. But those in the All Blacks are all NZers.
People here may know that I have frequently challenged England fans on the nationality of their test players. That is not a question of racism. It is simply that I believe that national teams should be made up of people from those countries and not of foreign imports -- their ethnicity doesn't matter in the least.
The editor says.... @EVERYONE: Can we move on now please and get back to rugby? IGNORE BokAvenger - we established a long time ago that he is just trying to cause trouble.
Posted 04:39 11th June 2012
Trinats2 says...
tha_mai:
touched a nerve did I ?? I am not racist in anyway, but for the Kiwis I'll make an exception !!! (that's a joke by the way)I knew Savea was born in NZ, I was just stirring. He is as Kiwi as Franks. Even though born in Aus, he is still a kiwi when he pulls on the Black shirt, same goes for Cooper when he pulls on the gold. Which is my point, the world of rugby is a Multicultural one. If it wasn't, the Tri nations would be Aboriginal, Maori and Zulu teams (I wouldn't have a problem with it) and not mixed as they are.
Good win by the way, you might be competitive this Tri nations/R/Champ !!!!
Posted 04:14 11th June 2012
tha_mai says...
GCP_JONES says...All the NZer's dissing King Ritchie
agree there are good back-ups there, but these stats from paper today suggest he's not quite as 'finished' as some would like to believe: "he was the leading All Black at the breakdown with 34 arrivals, and second best ball carrier with eight. He was also the top tackler with nine tackles and four assists"
But he did knock the ball on twice - not good enough!
Not bad for an old bloke! Apart from who would replace him at 7, there's also the issue of who would be captain - Kieran Read maybe best option there.
Posted 02:22 11th June 2012
safehands says...
@BokAvenger....re-read my post dimwit....I never said you were the one with the 'All Gorillas' tag, I said you plus some other posters (the minority of thankfully) with your rascist tags, amongst which was the aforementioned slur.....typical of you to react first then put your little brain into gear!!
As for rugby, you clearly do not understand the concept of inertia nor do you have any idea on the actual laws of the game at the breakdown.....much like Brussouw, which is why he gets pinged so often. Either that or you are just a bitter and twisted fellow. As I said before, typical of you to react first without engaging that little organ bouncing about in your skull!!
To the other more savvy South African posters on this site, I will point out that my 'ban the rascist clowns like BokAvenger' is in no way, shape or form a personal attack against South Africans in general, but is purely directed at the previously mentioned poison monger. As I noted previously, my wife of 14 years is South African and naturally then all her family is too. Also, having spent a large portion of my formative years growing up in SA too, I know that the majority of "Saffas" (as I call them, none of her family or my personal SA friends seem to have a problem with this, but should it be deemed inappropriate for this site, let me know and I'll change it), are not just passionate, rugby loving people but are also gracious decent folk, unlike my new friend BokAvenger.
Perhaps calling him a rascist is a bit OTT I now realise, as he is clearly not the sharpest pencil, so I shall retract that comment and just have to live with the knowledge that he clearly knows nothing outside of his bedroom. Keep living the dream BokAvenger....keep living the dream.....
Posted 02:15 11th June 2012
Trader2 says...
Hangon @blametheref are you saying that the SH teams have had a 6-8 week break - don't think so the Super franchises were back together late November admittedly some AB's did come back later but they were ones with injuries. In any event SH teams travel to the north at the end of their seasons finishing Nov/Dec exactly 12 months after commencing Super 15 duty so don't come up with that old chestnut. I am afraid the game down here is just faster and more physical and there are numerous reasons as I see it so that is not a put down. We train preseason in nice sunny warm weather, unless you are from the south of France your preseason weather can be crap. You play in crap conditions all winter long, it is impossible to develop the running game effectively. Not developing you own young players, allowing so many SH retierees to dominate your club scene doesn't help either. Just saw where Wales U20 beat NZ and that is great for Wales but will there be places in your clubs for those boys in 2-3 years time or will they give it away as they see their progression blocked by foreigners. Anyway don't blame lack of rest that is copout and just doesn't wash.
Posted 01:54 11th June 2012
melkdave says...
@Blametheref
Annother thing that should happen is for Sexton to play flater ,as he does with Leinster,in my team i had Trimble at 13 as he offers more physicalityand imo is a better tackler than Earls ,who i put back on the wing.Now his out im sure we will see D'arcy as BODs partner ,and Trimble on the wing
Posted 01:18 11th June 2012
porridge_time says...
blametheref...
Sorry but I don't go with this fatigue factor. Yes it is the end of a long season, but New Zealand regularly head up north after a long season and still manage to compete to the highest level.
Irish fans are probably looking at their players with rose tinted specs on... yes they are the cream of the crop in Europe. Kearney for instance looks outstanding week in week out for his province. Yet when he got nailed by Savea he then stood off and made life difficult for himself. Ireland came out the blocks fired, but once the AB's got their rhythm the Irish could not cope with the speed and tempo the match.
Simply it's just a case of not being good enough really.
Posted 01:17 11th June 2012
Kinsman says...
@blamethref
Serious question here, what were the Irish players doing in June and July 2011? With no June internationals in RWC year and the home comps wrapped up in May, I thought they had a couple of months break.
Posted 21:10 10th June 2012
KiwiLad says...
Blametheref, you forgot to mention jetlag, cheating referees, Cheating Richie, and countless other available excuses.
The ABs tour the northern hemisphere at their seasons end, and regularly and win a grand slam.
Show some good grace, admit when you were well beaten, and perhaps your boys will learn from it??
Posted 20:56 10th June 2012
makemehappy says...
Hard to believe that there were some people who were talking about Cruden being the best 10. That was a masterclass by Carter!
There's no point in trying to take any positives out of that game if you're an Irish support. That was murder! I do think that any team on the planet would have been hammered with the AB's in that kind of form though. Glad to see that the AB's actually selected proper wings for this game, unlike during the RWC.
Posted 20:47 10th June 2012
J_HDK says...
@blametheref
McFadden is a great player but his best position is at 12. Almost always gets stuck on the wing when playing for Ireland. I will never understand the logic of putting Earls in centre and McFadden out on the wing. Crazy stuff
@paddy91317
That wasn't a candle
Posted 19:48 10th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@lacroix, you say "joubert was dreadful for the RWC final and as today shows, still is a very poor ref. " You don't know what you are talking about...,not about the RWC nor this match. What are your qualifications? Exactly when (minute) did CJ make which error? I'd be willing to bet good money you can not even define a forward pass.
Posted 19:17 10th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@costa, Really? Please provide a reference. (URL)
Posted 18:49 10th June 2012
rugbylover says...
@ BokAvenger.
You need help. Medical psychiatric help.
Posted 18:46 10th June 2012
curates_egg says...
@liam2me hahahahahahah - Munster much? There was one thing you are right about - O'Driscoll had a poor game. Wonder if it had anything to do with him playing out of position, in order to accommodate the distinctly average Earls and taking every midfield tackle? Other than that, Zebo was the worst of the three quarters and O'Mahoney the worst of the back rows. However, most players (POM, Zebo and Earls included) had ok games. The only two bad performances were Murray (who was again useless) and O'Driscoll.
In reality, we were just totally outplayed by a better side. The real question is what this Irish is side doing in New Zealand for a 3 test tour after such a long season. It is total nonsense.
Posted 18:42 10th June 2012
BillyMutt2 says...
Meant to say "an otherwise fine rugby website".
Posted 18:38 10th June 2012
BillyMutt2 says...
@Kiwikev: I agree. Let's enjoy seeing those two make fools of themselves without responding. Sooner or later they'll stop contaminating an otherwise rugby website.
Posted 18:37 10th June 2012
dannylomu says...
@Paddy91317 the reason you ate that big red candle is cause you fat !!!!
Posted 17:51 10th June 2012
blametheref says...
A very important factor that the media are playing down big time is that the majority of these Irish players have not had a proper break from rugby for now coming on 1 year...What is not being taken into account is that it is possible that the Irish players and the other NH teams are suffering from serious fatigue from not having a proper "End of Season" downtime holiday period during the past year. Rest periods during the season don't have the same reviving effect as 6 to 8 weeks totally away from all things rugby.
I'm not saying that Ireland would have beaten NZ if they were less fatigued, but I am convinced that there is more to Ireland's thrashing than meets the eye, as even with Kidney at the helm, I know and so do the majority of Irish supporters that these players are much better than this
Posted 15:03 10th June 2012