All Blacks v Ireland: Winners and losers as ‘prickly thorn’ lays ‘rock solid’ foundation in a victory that gave Dave Rennie one ‘useful complaint’
Patrick Tuipulotu celebrates the opening All Blacks try on a night that Ireland's Stuart McCloskey won't remember fondly
Following a deserved six tries to three, 40-21 win for the All Blacks over Ireland at Eden Park, here are our winners and losers from the Nations Championship round three match.
Winners
Ardie Savea
Dave Rennie’s decision to award the No.8 the All Blacks captaincy has been vindicated this month, and the latest evidence was how the forward kept his team on task in a second half where the Irish fought tooth and nail to try and find a way back after trailing 28-7 at the break. It was said that Savea was one of the sacked Scott Robertson’s biggest critics, but the steelier togetherness that now exists was evident in the grit demonstrated by the skipper to bring this victory home.
It certainly wasn’t a contest jammed with highlight-reel moments, but Savea produced a valuable one 22 minutes into the match when attacking off scrum ball five metres out. Yes, he built up a head of steam in his initial steps, but he had no right to squeeze past the Irish trio of Jamison Gibson-Park, Sam Prendergast and Jimmy O’Brien to score – but he did. It was a lovely, powerful finish.
Joe McCarthy
The scoreline – a 19-point defeat – looks damning for the Irish, and it is in the sense that they would view them as equals of the All Blacks. However, scratch the surface, and there were some reasons for cheer, including the effort of the second row. McCarthy has often been criticised for having his quiet days when Ireland are under the pump, but he was to the fore here in ensuring this didn’t become a humiliating thrashing.
When it came to tackling and attempting to draw a resolutely defiant line in the Eden Park turf, the second row was the rock that his team relied on, and it was no surprise when the post-game stats emerged that he topped the game’s tackle count in the mid-20s. It wasn’t just on the backfoot where he caught the eye, though, as he produced a super finish to score in the 45th minute, setting the tone for a second half where the 40-minute score ended 14-all. Shout out as well to fellow try-scorer Jack Conan, who also put in an admirable shift.
Patrick Tuipulotu
When it comes to looking for a prickly New Zealand thorn in Ireland’s side, look no further than the All Black second row. This was a contest where the foundation for the home team’s victory was laid in the opening half, and Tuipulotu was busy making sure it was rock solid.
He led his team’s carries count by the interval during his 58-minute involvement, and it was apt that he opened the scoring in the 14th minute, punishing Ireland for a James Ryan knock-on down one end by touching down the other end and revelling in a finger-wagging celebration. Plenty of other meaty carries followed, including in the lead-up to his team’s bonus-clinching fourth try just before half-time. He wasn’t alone in this positive grunt work, with Tupou Vaa’i another heavily involved.
New Zealand’s half-backs
We have seen in recent weeks the starry attacking delights that this new half-back combination of Cam Roigard and Ruben Love can concoct, but Saturday in Auckland witnessed a different type of contribution – more substance than style but just as effective. Love’s 38th-minute 50:22 produced the territory for the All Blacks’ bonus point try, but what stood out most were some of their doing-the-basics contributions in the second half when the Irish made it a more equal contest and had hit back with McCarthy’s try.
There was a brilliant box-kick from Roigard that Jordie Barrett inspiringly claimed, and also a super Love catch where he held onto possession despite getting tackled in the air by Jimmy O’Brien. It was Damian McKenzie’s 56th-minute try that was crucial to nipping the Irish comeback in the bud, with both Roigard and Love sniping for the gain of a couple of metres before the full-back added the finish. Overall, it was an encouraging step forward for the duo.
Eden Park
As a stadium, it’s certainly not the most aesthetic and it can be a painful place to make a quick escape from following a match, but there is something about it that brings the defiant best out of the All Blacks and this latest win has stretched their unbeaten run there to 53 – 51 wins and two draws – since the 1994 loss to France.
As rugged as the Irish defence became, Andy Farrell’s team never looked like winning this match, and that will hurt. Despite winning a series 2-1 in New Zealand in 2022, it was a sore point that they had been soundly beaten in Auckland in the opening match, losing 42-19, a 21-point margin only reduced by two on this latest visit.
Dave Rennie
As fresh starts go in managerial tenures, the new All Blacks boss will be pleased that July’s opening to his time in charge has gotten off to three successive wins. Hosting France and Ireland, either side of the gimme versus Italy, was a potential banana skin and a home loss would have given the demanding New Zealand public an early invitation to start unloading on the new regime, but Rennie’s honeymoon period in his new job has unfolded nicely.
Against the Irish, their set-piece was reliable, going on to have the final say with a 68th-minute scrum penalty win, and the Tana Umaga-coached defence stood up to scrutiny when the Irish tested it in the second half. Yes, the attack could be more clinical, but to be cribbing about that after a match where they still scored six tries is a useful complaint to have.
Damian McKenzie
The full-back is a marmite-type player that fans either love or hate with little or no middle ground. However, after the tough loving of the Robertson era, he seems to be enjoying himself under Rennie’s approach, and this was another step towards making the No.15 jersey his this year.
There was a frustrating handling error on 50 minutes when he couldn’t grasp a pass out wide, but he was otherwise very reliable and he deserves kudos for the no-nonsense manner of his pick and jam finish six minutes later. Several other players would have stayed well away from that breakdown formed by a last-ditch tackle on Love, but McKenzie trusted his instinct and was immediately on the scene to pounce, grabbing the score that put the shackles on Irish comeback hopes.
All Blacks extend Eden Park record in statement victory over Ireland – As it happened
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Losers
Stuart McCloskey
Having been hailed all season as one of Ireland’s standout players, he endured the most horrible five minutes approaching the Eden Park interval. What he was thinking on that carry in his 22 from the restart following Conan’s try, only he knows. His teammates were expecting him to take the ball into contact, but he instead threw the ball loose, gifting Will Jordan a try that was crucial to the result.
McCloskey then couldn’t sufficiently get underneath Asafo Aumua to prevent the sub hooker from grounding for New Zealand’s fourth try, and he then butchered a redemption shot on the stroke of half-time when penalised on the ground following a carry deep in opposition territory. It was Ireland’s 11th turnover of the half, compared to five from New Zealand, and the midfielder was then subbed off on the hour mark. He wasn’t the only important Irish player to disappoint, though, as Gibson-Park was another who was way off his usual impeccable standard.
Josh Moorby
Having debuted off the bench in last weekend’s win over Italy, there was much focus on the Hurricanes winger now that Rennie had chosen him for his first New Zealand start. The wide man had been a star all year for his franchise, his joint-chart-topping contribution of 17 tries pivotal in their Super Rugby Pacific title win, but his elevation to international rugby has shown how it is another sport at this level.
While there was one moment on 19 minutes where he looked excellent in transferring the ball out of the tackle to keep an attack alive, a contribution followed seven minutes later by his intercept of an O’Brien pass, he was largely anonymous across his 80 minutes as New Zealand generally lacked width in their game.
Moorby wasn’t alone in not being seen much, as Jordan also made little headway for large parts, but the difference was how the Test regular scored with his only chance and then shone near the finish, winning a penalty poach against Ciaran Frawley and then giving the assist for Anton Lienert-Brown to score. That highlighted the work Moorby now needs to start searching to contribute on quiet days.
Irish attack
Ireland had some opportunities to exit Eden Park with a four-try bonus point, but that would have been a reward they didn’t fully deserve. The quality of their handling wasn’t where it needed to be, and there were too many moments where you were left shaking the head in frustration. It is something that has been holding the Irish back ever since the July 2024 departure of Mike Catt – they used to regularly smash opposition with the tempo of their play, but that threat isn’t as potent these days as it was back then.
The lack of fluency was especially evident in some key moments, namely the first half situation where Hugo Keenan galloped into New Zealand territory off a Josh van der Flier turnover deep in their own half. However, rather than give the pass to Robert Baloucoune, he went to ground, and the opportunity ended with Prendergast, who never wanted to attack the line with his running, shuffling the ball into touch after the scrambling Kiwi defence had shut the door. It typified the clunkiness that is holding this current Farrell iteration back.
Nic Berry
The referee who made headlines for all the wrong reasons when on the receiving end of Rassie Erasmus’ infamous rant in 2021 didn’t cover himself in glory in Auckland. For example, it was worrying that he didn’t see with his own eyes Luke Jacobson’s reckless 28th-minute clear-out of Van der Flier. The Australian official had an unobstructed view of the incident, yet it was only when TMO Ben Whitehouse intervened that the clearout came up for foul play review and eventually a yellow card.
His inability to see the incident and call it himself wasn’t a good look, and neither was his second-half decision not to card Quinn Tupaea for a deliberate knock-on. It was as deliberate as they come. It wasn’t only the Irish that Berry frustrated, though, as there were moments when he denied All Black Barrett what appeared to be legitimate turnovers. Overall, his amount of in-play coaching of the players in a bid to keep the game flowing erred on the side of being way too much.
READ MORE: All Blacks 40-21 Ireland: Check out the stats, facts and more from the Nations Championship clash