The best is yet to come say rampant All Blacks
NEW ZEALAND scrumhalf Aaron Smith claimed the world champions had more in the locker after their quarter-final demolition of Ireland. If there is more to come opponents might be entitled to wonder where it is coming from after this staggering performance. Smith’s two tries and one from Beauden Barrett helped the All Blacks to a 22-0 lead after 31 minutes. New Zealand had 34 points on the board before Ireland scored and Smith said: ‘There’s plenty more to come and tonight was a chance to show what we have been practising.’ Ireland had beaten the All Blacks twice in their last three meetings and the 30-year-old added: ‘It’s about big-match intensities. Some teams may struggle with that but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be ready. Barrett added: ‘We’re really proud of that performance. We knew in previous games against Ireland they’ve probably got the better of us up front and we knew it had to start there. The work
the big boys did to dominate most parts of this game certainly helped the backs.’
The match was Ireland captain Rory Best’s last after 124 caps and the 37-year-old hooker said: ‘[Coach] Joe Schmidt helped take away a bit of the fear factor that the All Blacks held in the last three Tests. But when you do that they see you coming and when you get the best team in the world fully focused on you it becomes that little bit more difficult.’
It was also Schmidt’s final game as head coach.
Asked to sum up his feelings, Best added: ‘Tired, sore, upset and we’re all incredibly disappointed. However, this World Cup in Japan has had a lot of things — upsets, weather, some high performances.
‘Credit has to go to Japanese Rugby and World Rugby. It’s been a fantastic tournament.’
Ireland claimed a penalty try and a score for Robbie Henshaw but that proved scant consolation as the All Blacks ran riot to book a semi-final date with England.