David Corkery
Not exactly the game we all wished it was going to be, but certainly no complaints about the winners.
Such was the hype heading in to this game you would easily have been forgiven for thinking it had the same kind of relevance as a World Cup knock-out tie.
There wasn’t a ticket to be got for months in advance and all the now customary pre-game gibberish had us salivating at the gills with thoughts that our eyes were going to be feasting on a game of exquisite rugby where inches were going to be fought over like lives depended on winning them.
Perhaps it was the misty rain and wet surface or maybe it was Irelands rustiness that contributed to their down fall, but whatever it was the Irish side that we saw in this game was a very distant side to the one we have now become accustomed to applauding.
Unforced errors like silly dropped balls, losing line-outs, failing to make worthwhile line breaks and some very poor discipline are traits that you would never associate with this Irish squad, yet on Friday evening it almost seemed that it was part of their game plan.
Apart from the injured Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan this was Andy Farrells strongest possible starting fifteen and when you boast having the world number one ranking above your dressing room door, the weather or having a few months apart are not strong enough excuses to offer up when you play as Ireland did in this game.
Up to Friday nights loss Ireland had amassed an incredible run of nineteen wins on the bounce in the Aviva and apart from the pessimists amongst us, everyone else would have put their house on it that nineteen would be turning to twenty after this game.
I have no doubt that if this Irish team were operating collectively at their highest level that they could have easily challenged this fledgling New Zealand side, but they were well wide of that required mark and to beat any group of players who wear an All Black jersey, you need to be on the money with everything you do.
Upfront Ireland were simply out played by a smarter, better prepared and more street wise All Black pack who delt with the occasion better and gave their half-back pairing of man of the match Damien Makenzie and scrum-half Cortez Ratima a much cleaner supply of ball to work with.
Makenzie was just impeccable with the kicking options he took and because of Irelands poor discipline and incapacity to build any kind of continuous go forward ball, the diminutive figure of Makenzie showed that you don’t have to be built like a brick wall if you have an astute rugby brain, a good boot, a rapid turn of pace and a reasonable supply of ball if you want to play at the highest level possible.
On the one occasion just after half-time when the men in green managed to string a few meaningful passages of play together, they showed just how good they can be when everyone is accurately doing their job. As a result of this clinical passage of play Josh van der Flier managed to identify a wider then normal gap in the All Blacks defensive fortifications and somehow managed to dot the ball down on the white wash however, that was as good as it was going to get for Ireland and things very quickly went down hill after that.
So fine are the margins at this level of rugby that all it takes is for one player to be out of position and everything you had planned goes up in smoke.
One second too early and you find yourself just getting in the way, one second too late and you end up looking like someone who isn’t working hard enough. Either way Ireland had way too many of these inaccuracies to even come within a whisker of winning this game and if it were not for some heroic defensive work by Jamison Gibson Park, the score board would have looked a whole pile worse.
The removal of Jack Crowley from the field of play on the 57th minute probably paints a very good picture as to where Andy Farrells mind is with regards to who Irelands best fly-half is.
When your back is to the wall and you need someone to light a fire you normally look to your playmaker to do this, but when Ciaran Frawley replaced Crowley it showed that Farrell wasn’t convinced the Munster man was capable of turning the tide.
Crowley who has been performing solidly in the green number ten jersey didn’t have his best showing in this game and just lacked that bit of killer instinct that was needed.
I don’t think anyone would blame the West Cork man for this loss because he was playing behind a well beaten pack, but let it be a warning to him that international rugby is a product where loyalty holds very little value and your jersey is only as assured as your last performance.
It will be very interesting to see who Farrell starts in the number ten jersey for next week’s clash against the brutally physical Argentineans.
This the best ever Irish squad has been built on honesty and I can assure you that Farrell would have not held back in the reviewing of this game with his players.
All we can do now as spectators looking in is hope that this performance was just a stumble and that normal service will be reestablished next Friday night against Argentina. A nation that is only getting stronger and stronger.