We got what we hoped for from Ireland against the All Blacks: a performance. But it’s still a concern that the game was effectively over after 50 minutes, writes Malcolm O’Kelly.
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Given all that had happened over the previous few weeks, everybody had written Ireland off going into the game against New Zealand. Even the most optimistic of observers, and I’d count myself among those, couldn’t see how they could win
What everyone hoped for was a performance, and we got that. Ireland were full of guts. It was real backs-to-the-wall stuff for the first 20 minutes or so, New Zealand threw everything at Ireland but they soaked up the pressure.
What happened then was that the penny dropped, and Ireland realised that this was never going to be a territorial game, it was never going to be a game about kicking for the corners. So they changed their tactics and produced some sublime rugby as a result.
It was not enough to win, and to be honest it was never going to be enough to win. New Zealand were absolutely phenomenal. To have any chance of beating them, you need everything to drop right and you need them to make a few mistakes. But I’m not sure if I recall one genuine mistake from the All Blacks, even though Ireland had them under pressure on quite a few occasions. If they did make a few minor mistakes, they were able to use it to their advantage by playing broken field rugby. Overall, they were absolutely flawless.
There were a few plus points for Ireland. From 1 to 15, the performance was much better than either of the previous ones this month against South Africa and Samoa.
I thought the scrum worked very well for the most part. Tom Court can be very happy with his hour’s work, and Cian Healy, Rory Best and Sean Cronin also played their part in the scrum unit.
Tom Court – “can be very happy with his performance”
It was good to see the line-out faring a bit better. It still didn’t function at its best – we weren’t winning our own ball as easily as we’d like and a few throws went astray. Cronin struggled a bit in the line-out but he was very good in the loose. With Rory Best’s injury, it looks like he will be starting against Argentina next weekend and he can work on getting the darts right during the week.
Donnacha and Micko played very well, Micko especially took command from the restarts when Ireland were struggling in that area. And I thought Dev Toner had a good impact on the game when he came on. He offered a big target, and he’ll benefit hugely from the experience.
I’ve heard people saying that Ireland’s improvement in the forwards was mostly because New Zealand’s front five was weak. They were missing people like Brad Thorn, Keven Mealamu, Carl Hayman, but are they any more important than Paul O’Connell, Tony Buckley and Jerry Flannery for us? I’m not sure I buy that argument. Anyway, the All Blacks’ front five still posed a huge threat. They might not have dominated in the setpiece but they definitely showed up well around the field. Maybe the big beard made him more noticeable but Anthony Boric seemed to be everywhere.
Overall, the biggest positive for Ireland was that they played rugby. The team has shown that the open game suits them better than anything else, and hopefully we’ll see more of the same against Argentina next weekend and into the Six Nations in the New Year.
Declan Kidney showed faith in the whole team with his selection. There were lots of areas that could be scrutinised after the performances in the first two November internationals but the decision to go with Eoin Reddan and Johnny Sexton at half-back was one thing that generated a bit of debate during the week.
I think Sexton is the perfect man to play the type of expansive game Ireland need to play. He was amazing – his kicking was exemplary, his running of the back-line was very good and he also offers the edge over Ronan O’Gara on the defensive side of things. What’s so good about New Zealand is that they find your weaknesses and ruthlessly expose them, and there’s no doubt that if Rog was playing they would have had his defensive frailties earmarked from the start.
Against a team like New Zealand, Ireland were able to mimic the way they played and they played very well as a result. They should be watching the video of the game over the next few weeks or months and realise that playing territory, territory, territory all the time is not necessary. I think of New Zealand as like Real Madrid – it doesn’t matter how much you score, we’ll score more – and that policy could work well for Ireland against most opposition.
Although the performance from Ireland was good, it has to be a concern that the team produced their best performance of the autumn and still fell well short of a first ever win against the All Blacks. The gap was 20 points at the finish and it could have been more. Ireland were winning five minutes before half-time but the All Blacks then put on 24 points without reply. It was 33-13 after 50 minutes. Twenty points down with half an hour to go, you’ve no chance. Game over.
After their performances this month, the All Blacks are undoubtedly number one and there to be shot at again. They might not be invincible but they’re pretty close to it. Whenever they’ve been beaten over the last few years, it’s been by South Africa or Australia sticking with them, hanging in there and pipping them at the finish.
They look almost untouchable at the moment. It’s hard to put your finger on why they’re so good. There’s an X-Factor about them that’s difficult to gauge. Their unpredictability is one of the most difficult things for opposing teams to handle. They can attack from anywhere, at any time. Every single player is able to read what’s in front of him and weigh up his options in a split second. They’re also hugely physical all over the field. You see Sonny Bill Williams coming on in the centre. He’s a monster. One on one, he’s going to take anybody.
In the past they’ve often peaked at the wrong time, between World Cups, and I suppose there has to be a chance of it happening again. You never know what can happen on any given day. If they had someone like Richie McCaw sinbinned at the wrong time, that could be a big blow to them and you don’t know how they’ll react.
Looking ahead to next week for Ireland, Argentina will pose a big threat again. Ourselves and the Pumas have been so closely matched for a long time. They’re the country who have presented us with some of our greatest challenges for a good few years now. This game is all about the result, so I’m guessing that Declan Kidney will go with his strongest 15.
Maybe I’m being biased, but there are a couple of Leinster players I’d like to see getting a call-up: Shane Horgan and Sean O’Brien. Watching Shaggy for Leinster in the Magners League the other night, he’s obviously in fantastic form. Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney look likely to be out of action for a while and it would be great to see Shane pull on the Irish jersey one more time. Seanie needs a run in the team now. The back row is one of the strongest units of the team but I really believe Seanie can add to it.
This game is massive. It’s the one of the four November internationals Ireland have to win. South Africa was one they could have won, Samoa was one they were always going to win, New Zealand was one they’d love to have won. But against Argentina, they have to win.
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