Green versus the machine
The All Blacks might want to send Ireland coach Joe Schmidt a sympathy card after they destroyed his team’s World Cup campaign in Tokyo Stadium.
One thing’s for sure, they didn’t show the slightest bit of remorse as they walloped the Irish 46-14 by scoring seven tries to two in their quarterfinal this morning.
When the All Blacks, who will meet England in the semi in Yokohama next weekend, flexed their muscles they made Ireland’s defensive line, which is organised by Andy Farrell, look like it had been organised over a few pints and a game of darts.
You name it, the All Blacks did it.
Cross-kicks, pop passes in the tackle, transfers quickly off the grass and runners tearing in on angles. It was designed to get in behind the rush defence, to put Ireland into the outhouse.
It will also have England coach Eddie Jones demanding his analysts issue footage on every try and line break ahead of the semi. Here’s the tip: those guys are in a for a big shift because the All Blacks gave them plenty to get their teeth into.
So, for now, Schmidt will have to go into retirement – he has said he wants to spend time with family – wondering if there anything he could have done to avoid this embarrassment.
Truth is, Ireland never looked like winning this. Not even close. And the All Blacks could have piled on a few more tries if a few more passes had stuck.
Halfback Aaron Smith scored two tries, along with another from Beauden Barrett, as the All Blacks led 22-0 at the break. Game over.
Ireland didn’t help themselves much; playmaker Johnny Sexton – later replaced by Joey Carbery – was never allowed to influence his attack, and, inexplicably, missed touch several times when Ireland were awarded penalties.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen kept the pressure on through his bench, and specialist opensider Matt Todd proved his value by adding a try in the second spell.
Smith tips the scales at just 83kg, hardly a monster in the modern game, but the nippy No 9 selected the right moments to throw his weight around in the first 20 minutes in Tokyo.
Forget the argy-bargy, or sledging. Smith was far more subtle than that. In the first instance he spied daylight on the fringe of a ruck near the opposition posts, and rather than spin the ball wide launched like a spring-heeled sprinter between the embarrassed Irish defenders.
They breed them smart in the small town of Feilding in Manawatu, and Smith, a former hairdresser by trade, took another short cut towards the Irish line.
Right wing Sevu Reece was invited to join a backline move off a scrum, left wing George Bridge motored into space and when a ruck was formed near the corner flag Smith propelled himself over.
The Irish players, hands on hips and with lungs heaving, could only glare at each other and try to gee each other up.
Somehow they had to pull themselves out of this crevasse, and as they watched Richie Mo’unga’s conversion split the sticks to give the men in black a 17-0 lead they looked ready to right some wrongs.
That’s the problem when emotion takes over; players try too hard to make amends and the errors follow.
There were a couple of instances of poor execution; Garry Ringrose needlessly locked Ardie Savea in a neck roll and Cian Healy rushed offside from a ruck.
It was the All Blacks rush defence, though, that forced the Irish to trudge back to their ingoal with long faces; Reece smashed Sexton in tackle, jolting the ball free and when the ball was hacked down the track Barrett seized the opportunity. Now for England.
Mr Jones’s boys made short work of Australia in their quarterfinal in Oita, cruising home 40-16.
And they did it with just 36 per cent of the possession, making 160 tackles to the Aussies’ 66.
The All Blacks will be a different beast. It will be some showdown in Yokohama.