New Zealand v Ireland 2nd Test Match Report

New Zealand scraped across the line in this second of three tests to get a less than convincing victory over Ireland in an emotional encounter in Christchurch as international rugby returned to the area for the first time since the tragic earthquakes.

The visitors started the game much faster than their hosts, and signaled their intentions when they turned down an early kickable penalty and opted to go for the corner. The gamble paid off and after a maul resulting from the lineout was dragged down just short of the line; scrum half Connor Murray was on hand to dart over from close range and Ireland took the lead.

10 minutes later Jonny Sexton slotted a tricky penalty to send his team into a shock 0 – 10 lead after 20 minutes.

Then Ireland gave away a series of silly penalties at the breakdown allowing Dan Carter to chip away at their lead.

The majority of the half was played largely between the to 22 metre lines with New Zealand dominating possession without creating any real clear cut chances, which is very uncharacteristic of them.

However Carter punished Ireland time and time again and the All Blacks went in at half time trailing by just 1 point at 9 – 10.

New Zealand got off to the best possible start in the second half. They managed to get their offloads going and picked well around the fringes which eventually resulted in Aaron Smith being bundled over by his forwards to send the hosts into the lead.

Sexton and Carter then traded penalties with Ireland seemingly in the ascendancy; they attacked hard and battered the New Zealand defensive line but were limited to penalties. Ireland were also solid on the defensive side of things with Dan Carter resorting to attempting drop goals which is testament to the tenacious defence of the Celts.

The scores were level at 19 a piece heading in to the final 10 minutes of the game when Israel Dagg was sin binned for a late tackle on Ireland full back Rob Kearney which was the correct decision, the world champions looked rattled and Ireland looked the more likely.

New Zealand managed the final minutes in a professional manner and worked the ball into drop goal range. Carter was handed a second chance after his first drop goal attempt was charged down ending up over the dead ball line and he didn’t miss the second time around from the resulting 5 metre scrum to get the All Blacks over the line to win 22 – 19.

Ireland will be bitterly disappointed that they didn’t manage to capitalize on a great opportunity to beat the AB’s for the first time in 107 years. They dominated large parts of the game and had their hosts rattled. However New Zealand proved that great teams can get the win when not at their best, and that’s exactly what they did.

Despite the loss Ireland can be proud of their performance, which was hugely improved from last weeks shambles, they definitely deserved something out of the game and will be looking for revenge in the final test next week.

New Zealand v Ireland Match Report

New Zealand began the three match test series with Ireland in dominant fashion with a 42 – 10 victory at Eden Park.

Ireland made their intentions clear from the start, and as many predicted they came to have a go at the world champions. But it was the All Blacks who opened the scoring with fly half Dan Carter announcing his returning to the international stage with an early penalty.

It didn’t take long for Ireland to respond and Jonny Sexton settled his nerves with a good strike leveling the scores at 3 – 3. Ireland briefly controlled the game and talisman Brian O’Driscoll produced a trademark offload to send Keith Earles into the NZ 22, but the Irish were bundled into touch.

Carter slotted another 2 long-range penalties in metronomic fashion and Ireland then yielded some committed defence as NZ bombarded their line with waves of attack.

Ireland eventually cracked and it was a familiar counter attack from NZ that provided the games opening try. The counter attack eventually led to Sonny Bill Williams sending Carter through with a sumptuous offload, the fly half couldn’t squander the 2 on 1 to put debutant Julian Savea over for the first try of his international career.

Ireland managed to work themselves an attacking lineout from 5 metres out. However the ball was turned over and the All Blacks flooded up field looking ominous, which led to newcomer Simon Zebo carrying the ball into touch 5 metres from his own line. This eventually led to Dagg putting Savea over for his second try with a sublime miss pass and a good finish in the corner from Savea just before half time. The teams went in with NZ looking menacing leading 23 – 3.

The second half picked up where the first half finished when just 3 minutes in Savea crossed the whitewash to complete his hat trick in an unforgettable debut for the hurricane winger.

The Irish grabbed a try 10 minutes into the second half. Hooker Rory best managed to charge down a grubber kick from Dan Carter, the ball fell to Jonny Sexton who kicked the ball downfield, and there was only one winner in the footrace between Fergus McFadden and Richie McCaw.

The AB’s responded virtually straight away with a move straight from the training ground. Number 8 Keiran Read picked up from a 5-metre scrum and offloaded to replacement Adam Thompson who only had to fall over the line. If there was any sign of an Irish revival it was killed off with this try.

Then came all the substitutions and both teams lost their rhythm slightly and the game was in danger of going flat. Until McFadden was denied his second try when he intercepted a pass and ran the length only for referee Nigel Owens to call him back for offside.

Conrad Smith went over in the dying moments to rub salt in the wounds and finish off a move that included a sublime offload from Carter.

New Zealand fans will be pleased to see fly half Dan Carter back to his best, he got the backline firing well and had a hand in most of the tries with a near perfect kicking record to boot.

Ireland adopted a brave approach to this game and lost heavily without really doing much wrong, but this is often the case against the world champions. Unfortunately Ireland I think the tone has been set for the rest of the series.