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.
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