Normal service resumes for All Blacks
CASTING the All Blacks as losers was never going to go down well.
After one victory in 111 years, two in a fortnight was a challenge too far for Ireland, with New Zealand stuttering back to winning ways at the Aviva Stadium last night.
It was D-Day back in New Zealand, where viewers switched on their television sets with expectation at 6.30am.
While the result in Chicago did not quite carry the same weight as Brexit or Donald Trump becoming US president, a second defeat would have prompted a similar public outcry.
Warren Gatland, who was sitting in the stands, will take hope ahead of next year’s British and Irish Lions crusade. The All Blacks almost mastered their own downfall with shoddy discipline — but they had too much talent in their ranks for lightning to strike twice.
At Soldier Field, Ireland bottled up the emotion of Anthony Foley’s passing. They faced the haka in a figure of eight, before forcing the All Blacks against the ropes early on.
Here the Kiwis were loaded with their own emotions — marking the one-year anniversary of Jonah Lomu’s death, as well as last week’s earthquake on the South Island.
The tourists’ skipper Kieran Read attacked the kick-off, forcing a turnover. The forwards attacked around the fringes, sucking in green defenders and, once the D-line had narrowed, Beauden Barrett kicked wide across field.
Malakai Fekitoa collected and stepped inside Conor Murray to score. Barrett converted.
Not for the first time, the Kiwis strayed offside and Johnny Sexton narrowed the gap by three points.
But Barrett hit back, chipping over the defence and — after some needless showboating — just about held off Sexton to touch down for a second.
Within 22 minutes, Sexton, Sam Cane, Robbie Henshaw and CJ Stander had all left the field with injuries. It was downright demolition in Dublin. Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Tadhg Furlong relished the collision zone, forcing eight penalties from the Kiwis inside 37 minutes as discipline failed.
It was a sure sign of the All Blacks’ quality that, during lengthy injury breaks, they were the first team to initiate drills to keep fresh. Ireland were always a step behind.
Were their heroics in Chicago a flash in a pan? That was the question head coach Joe Schmidt spent the week answering, with constant references to 2012 in Hamilton.
Four years ago, Ireland were denied a famous victory by a late Dan Carter drop goal, before their efforts crumbled the following week with a 60-0 thrashing. Aaron Smith was sin-binned for taking out Murray — a common tactic by the Kiwis — and Jackson kicked the penalty.
In Chicago, Ireland reaped rewards from the set-piece, but the return of locks Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick neutralised their threats.
The hosts dominated both possession and territory, yet had no tries to show by half-time.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has fielded 19 players on this tour who were not involved in last year’s World Cup.
They spent the last fortnight studying Andy Farrell’s defensive systems — working out when the line of tacklers are blitzing and when they are holding.
But the Kiwi defence faced the sternest tests. While Israel Dagg provided good cover under the high ball alongside Ben Smith, Jackson forced errors from Julian Savea by targeting the heavyweight winger.
The Fields of Athenry belted out but Ireland missed their shots — even with Fekitoa sin-binned for a high tackle on Simon Zebo.
Jackson kept the scoreboard ticking but soon paid the price for not crossing the line.
With a clinical counter-punch, Barrett and TJ Perenara combined, with Fekitoa adding the finishing touch.