Irish heartbreak in Dublin
1963: Ireland 5 New Zealand 6 Only the fourth time the countries ever met and Ireland came very close, only running out of steam in the final quarter. Clontarf winger Jimmy Fortune scored a converted try after good work by Alan Duggan and Jerry Walsh. New Zealand replied with a try by Kel Tremain but Ireland led 5-3 until midway through the second half when Don Clarke clinched the issue with a long-range penalty. This game saw the first locking of horns between a young Willie John McBride, in his first season of international rugby, and Colin Meades.
1973: Ireland 10 New Zealand 10 Close but no cigar although there are those who feel they did actually win this game, claiming that Barry McGann’s last minute touchline conversion of Johnny Moloney’s try which had levelled up the scores had been good. McGann himself remains convinced: “I am as certain as you can be it was over and always have been,” insists McGann. “When you spend most of your rugby life kicking goals you get a feel for these things and my gut instinct was always that the kick was good. I can still picture it clearly, it’s not exactly a thing you forget.”
2001: Ireland 29 New Zealand 40 Richie McCaw’s debut match and the young flanker gave a MOM performance but to start with it all went horribly wrong for New Zealand as Ireland raced into a 21-7 lead. Dennis Hickie, Eric Millar and Kevin Maggs all scored and fleetingly there was a chance for David Wallace to increase the lead. New Zealand fought back through a counter-attacking try from Jonah Lomu and broke Irish hearts by overwhelming Ireland in the final quarter with four further tries, from Chris Jack, Reuben Thorne, Aaron Mauger and Dougie Howlett.
2014: Ireland 22 New Zealand 24 So close. Ireland went in with a 22-7 halftime lead after tries from Rob Kearney, Conor Murray and Rory Best. New Zealand responded strongly after the break with tries by Ben Franks and Julian Savea. But Ireland steadied the ship, and five points up, had the opportunity to close the game out with three minutes left when Johnny Sexton missed a short range penalty. New Zealand attacked remorselessly at the death and eventually Ryan Crotty plunged over. Aaron Cruden needed to convert form the touchline which he did at the second attempt.
2016: Ireland 9 New Zealand 21 On paper this looks a routine Ireland defeat and a return to the norm after Ireland’s sensational 40-29 win over the All Blacks in Chicago just two weeks earlier but it was anything but. In an explosive game Ireland again took the fight to New Zealand but this time couldn’t finish off their chances while the ABs were in steely physical mood, way too much so in the eyes of many. How Sam Cane stayed on remains a mystery while Ireland fans weren’t happy with the Beauden Barrett and Malakai Fekitoa tries but it was their team’s profligacy that really hurt.