Sean O’Donnell
What a difference 9 years makes. In the very amphitheatre where a new day dawned in 2016 in our relationship with New Zealand Rugby, we couldn’t escape the sensation of the sun setting finally on our period of standing shoulder to shoulder with them. Has the dream died where it began?
Well it’s morning now and the sun rose as usual. We try to unravel our mixed emotions, anger, sadness, dumbfoundedness etc and it is still difficult to answer all the questions that nag at us. But one thing is clear. We earned the right to stand beside the All Blacks and that genie cannot and will not be put back in the bottle irrespective of what happened last night.
What did happen? Well we lost a match. That can happen to anyone. We lost comprehensively to New Zealand. That can definitely happen to anyone. It was the maddening coincidence of circumstances that made it hard to swallow.
Now let’s get one thing straight. We are long past the ” moral victory” stage. Also blaming referees is a bankrupt argument. So no we did not deserve to win. We were not robbed and no it was not due to the officiating that we lost. Yet there are inescapable elements of both factors.
The fact is we lost this match- the All Blacks didn’t win it. We turned over at half time with our noses in front with 14 men for 20 minutes the enforced absentee being, arguably, our best player. We also withstood a post interval onslaught to avoid conceding early on resumption. A penalty put us 13-7 in front but that was too tight a lead to defend and when they eventually got over for a dubious second, the citadel fell as Ireland had neither the physical or psychological stamina to mount a second coming. There followed a complete collapse as concentration faltered, gifting two further tries for a highly flattering 26-13 and 4 tries to 1 victory for the All Blacks. It is fair to say it does not reflect the first 60 minutes. But the game lasts 80 as Ireland well know.
During the majority of the game when Ireland were in control, we dominated territory and possession and defender the opposition’s occasional forays into our territory exceptionally, even when a man short. What we failed to do was the old bugbear, convert opportunities into scoreboard capital. Passes didn’t go to hand, going to ground, not being held or flying over the recipient’s head, forcing him to turn and retrieve. These failings resulted in the loss of many scoring chances. The lineout was a by now familiar shambles.
Thus at 13-6 and with the illustrious opposition clearly unsettled, we still hadn’t done enough to nail down the match. And the All Blacks will gladly pilfer anything that is not nailed down. They hung in and took their chance, and their confidence restored, finished with a flourish.
Now I said I would not blame the officials for the defeat and I won’t. Their decisions, as every coach will tell you, are not among the controlables. However I feel it would be remiss to ignore some of the truly bizarre calls made. Very early on Ireland lost one of our stalwarts, Tadhg Beirne, for a head high hit on Beauden Barrett. Tadhg did not wrap. He drew his arms together seemingly to protect against the coming collision. It seemed to be an instinctive action and without ill intent. A yellow card and penalty might have been acceptable at a push but the upgrading had all the hallmarks of a stitch up. Remarkably Ireland survived Tadhg’s absence turning over in front.
In a backline which never moved fluently there were moments of excellence from Jamie Osborne, Tommy O Brien and James Lowe. Jamison Gibson Park was sharp and gave his usual crisp service. Jack Crowley had a mixed day at the office with moments of magic particularly in the first half but also some overcooked and misjudged kicks. Still he has earned his starting place for now at least. Gary Ringrose, regrettably, was well below his best but has credit in the bank. But Stu McCloskey, considered by many to be a ” brave” selection put his hand up big time. His was a lionhearted showing full of grit with some eye catching breaks.
Up from Tadhg Furlong showed his importance and nobody was going to prevent his try. Dan Sheehan, James Ryan and Jack Conan did well as did Ian Henderson when he came on. Josh van der Flier and Ryan Baird stood out. Caelan Doris in his two cameos showed flashes of his known finesse but as a unit the replacements came to less than the sum of their parts- more fireworks squad than a bomb squad.
So a devastating night more because of the symbolism of the venue and date than anything else. We suffered far worse defeats to New Zealand in the last 9 years viz the World Cup quarter final of 2019 and who remembers the first test of the iconic 2022 tour. Last night was a reversal but nothing that cannot be reversed especially with the Springboks coming to Lansdowne Road. And for those who see little other than the World Cup, we can still get a favourable draw depending on our performances over the rest of the month.
We still have a good team and Andy Farrell has not become a bad coach overnight. He still has an 80% win record with Ireland and won a series with the Lions during the Summer.
In short the glass is still half full albeit Andy may well have to top it up shortly.