Rugby

Referee's calls rankle as New Zealand get revenge for Ireland's Chicago victory

Ireland's Johnnie Sexton battles with New Zealand's Beauden Barrett during Saturday's autumn international at the Aviva Stadium<br />Picture by PA
Ireland's Johnnie Sexton battles with New Zealand's Beauden Barrett during Saturday's autumn international at the Aviva Stadium
Picture by PA
Ireland's Johnnie Sexton battles with New Zealand's Beauden Barrett during Saturday's autumn international at the Aviva Stadium
Picture by PA

Guinness November Series: Ireland 9 New Zealand 21

HOW Joe Schmidt’s tongue must have throbbed as he left the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.

There was more than enough temptation and more than enough justification for him to have taken Jaco Peyper to task, but the placid Kiwi declined as per usual to go down that route. Indeed, he and Rory Best are top-table masters of deflecting the emphasis of analysis back on themselves as opposed to passing it on to the officials.

Not allowing the squad to be sucked into a mindset of blaming referees has been part of the growing up process for Ireland, but they still have learning to do. Would the men in green have gotten away with some of what New Zealand got away with on Saturday night? Perhaps not. But the All Blacks are masters at knowing when to play on human nature.

Their physicality in defending their tryline seemed to ramp up further still in the ten minutes after Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa were binned, in the ultimately proven hope that the South African official wouldn’t reduce their numbers any further.

“I think people will make their own decisions about what happened out there because the images are available to everybody,” said Ireland’s head coach.

“People will make their own assessments. We’ll make ours and go through the appropriate channels. That’s as far as we can go in controlling that.”

He swallowed the same venom back in the spring of the year when the same referee declined to go to the TMO in Paris and ruled a knock-on, disallowing an Irish try when a look would have shown the score should have stood.

This time, it was the crucial third All Black try. Ireland had clawed their way back into the game at 14-9 and were just threatening when Beauden Barrett produced another little bit of magic to create an opening. TJ Perenara’s pass out to tryscorer Malakai Fekitoa bordered very close to forward. Rory Best, having seen the incident on the big screen, approached the referee and pleaded: “There’s too much at stake”.

Not enough, though: “Being vocal, is it a solution? I don’t know,” said Schmidt.

“I think you can be vocal through the appropriate channels. I think there’s always a risk in being outspoken. If you want to affect change, you need to have a rapport and you need to engage with people who are making the decisions. If you isolate yourself from them, you have less access to them and potentially less opportunity to have some discourse to get some answers or affect change.”

All such controversy does is deflect from Ireland’s performance. It lacked the ruthless cutting edge of Chicago, but was arguably even fiercer in its determination than two weeks ago. The opening 17 minutes saw to that. Losing Robbie Henshaw, stretchered off on 10, and then hamstring victim Jonathan Sexton seven minutes later threw the Irish attacking axis completely off-kilter.

Paddy Jackson and Garry Ringrose - the latter particularly - had their moments in attack, but their defensive inexperience also showed: “Losing your 10 and your 12, how many times does that happen? I thought CJ was huge in Chicago and losing him as well," said Schmidt.

“It does make it a challenge. You train maybe two and-a-half or three times during the week and the guys who start tend to get the bulk of that time, therefore you’re always potentially a little bit slower to take opportunities. If there’s any lack of clarity, they’re getting off the line and putting pressure in your face, and it’s very hard to play because they’re very proactive and very physical.”

Josh van der Flier and Sean O’Brien pushed up the linebreak tally, but they just couldn’t crack the code against a side that conceded just five tries in the Rugby Championship. Van der Flier had an exceptional second half but just couldn’t get his offload away with one of Ireland’s better chances, instead spilling the ball forward when he tried to feed Andrew Trimble outside.

Half-chances were really the order of the Irish evening. CJ Stander managed to cross after 8 minutes but was held up, with Ireland deciding to take the three points from the penalty advantage. Then came Sam Cane’s tackle on Robbie Henshaw. The attempt to wrap was negligible; the evidence of a head clash not visible to most. That was enough to keep the New Zealand flanker on the field, though he was gone soon after, injured himself. But as he left, Beauden Barrett was touching down for a second All Black try and the ciúnas fell upon the Aviva, fearing that the backlash had indeed arrived.

From there though, Ireland’s effort at the breakdown was colossal. It seemed that every time they managed to get two men around a black shirt, they poached the ball or forced a penalty. It led to pretty much incessant pressure. New Zealand made 166 tackles to Ireland’s 76, which sums up the flow of the game, but the men in green botched their best chances.

A solid lineout should have led to some joy off the driving maul but it broke yards from the New Zealand line. Jamie Heaslip lost the ball forward just before he stretched out to score. Sean O’Brien’s excitement led to him spilling the ball when he looked certain to score.

Van der Flier’s attempted offload was another and then Rob Kearney snatched a loose ball ten yards from the line but the supporting cast was too slow and the excellent Ardie Savea mopped up: “Sometimes you get the points on the board and sometimes you don’t. We were right in the game today,” said Schmidt.

“Line breaks, we were up there. Possession and territory, we were well ahead. Discipline, we were well ahead. The number of times we cross the line was pretty similar to theirs. That’s how fine the margins are. We weren’t that far away tonight and they weren’t that far away two weeks ago in Chicago either.”

Over two games with the best side in the world, Ireland dominated three-quarters of it and lost 50-49. But they would have taken one win and such a performance as this three weeks ago. Perhaps Australia now is the tallest order of all, given the circumstances. Stander, Henshaw and Rob Kearney are all looking down the line of return-to-play protocols. Jonathan Sexton’s hurt the other hamstring. Simon Zebo looked sore coming off.

But when the lights go out this Saturday night, this will always have been the November Series that finally broke the duck. And judging by this display, Ireland have shed their fear of the All Black jersey.

Ireland's Jamie Heaslip constantly threw himself at the New Zealand defence <br />Picture by PA&nbsp;
Ireland's Jamie Heaslip constantly threw himself at the New Zealand defence
Picture by PA 
Ireland's Jamie Heaslip constantly threw himself at the New Zealand defence
Picture by PA 

IRELAND RATINGS


Rob Kearney: Typically solid beneath the high ball and came to the line at pace several times, without ever creating the gaps. 6

Andrew Trimble: Very sound defensively and was unlucky with one great take going forward that he was on the touchline. A few huge tackles. 7

Jared Payne: Ran some great lines from deep but the All Blacks had his number and shut him down well in midfield. Worked hard at the breakdown. 6.5

Robbie Henshaw: Lasted just seven minutes before a high tackle from Sam Cane ended his game. 6

Simon Zebo: Had one moment out wide where he looked as though he might get in but came back inside. A heavy knock makes him a doubt for next week. 6.5

Jonathan Sexton: Unbelievable tackle that looked to have denied Beauden Barrett a try, only to be spurned by the TMO’s debatable call. Forced off with a hamstring injury after just 17 minutes, and was a huge loss. 6

Conor Murray: Not the world class display of Chicago but the lack of his usual out-half partner from early on affected Ireland’s attacking flow. Better second-half. 7

Jack McGrath: Took the physical fight to the New Zealand forwards and gained some decent yardage. 7

Rory Best: Lineout went well beyond the first effort. Some good carries in the second half as Ireland tried to break through. Ultimately an evening of frustration trying to get Jaco Peyper to listen. 7

Tadhg Furlong: One crashing run caught the eye and made a fine catch at the back of a loose lineout. Even showed decent hands on occasion. 7.5

Donnacha Ryan: Never really managed to get involved in the game at all, without ever doing too much wrong. Will find himself under pressure in the spring. 5.5

Devin Toner: Beyond the scrappy first lineout, he was dominant on Ireland’s own ball in a very sound display. 7

CJ Stander: Held up when he crossed in Ireland’s first real foray. Crashed over the top of Fekitoa before going off and failing the HIA. Was sorely missed. 6.5

Sean O’Brien: A phenomenal 80-minute effort. Set the tone with the break in Ireland’s first meaningful foray and was brilliant throughout, in defence and attack. Will be disappointed to have spilled that ball with the tryline in sight. 8.5

Jamie Heaslip: A particularly big second-half from the vice-captain as he constantly, and effectively, threw himself at the New Zealand defensive line. 8

REPLACEMENTS


Garry Ringrose: Attacked the line hard and showed a bit of craft to weave into gaps without ever threatening to blow New Zealand apart. 7

Paddy Jackson: Had a nervous start, missing an early tackle, and was extremely lucky the referee disallowed a Beauden Barrett try after the Ulster man lost the ball. Improved but didn’t take what was a big chance. 6

Josh van der Flier: One error in trying to force an offload but largely a dynamic display from the Leinster flanker. Made more ground than any other Irish player despite starting 21 minutes in. 8.5

Cian Healy: His soft hands let him down with a chance out wide. 6

Iain Henderson: Didn’t affect the game much more than Donnacha Ryan had. 6

Sean Cronin: Tried to force some ground but one handling error in particular. 6

Finlay Bealham: No great impact. 6

Kieran Marmion: The physicality of the game meant the back-up scrum-half finished on the wing. 6

New Zealand's Brodie Retallick disrupted the giant frame of Devin Toner <br />Picture by PA&nbsp;
New Zealand's Brodie Retallick disrupted the giant frame of Devin Toner
Picture by PA 
New Zealand's Brodie Retallick disrupted the giant frame of Devin Toner
Picture by PA 

NEW ZEALAND RATINGS


Ben Smith: More effective when he found himself on the wing, he had his moments in attack and was solid in defence. 7

Israel Dagg: Carried well at times and created a few openings in the second-half and was solid aerially. 7

Malakai Fekitoa: An eventful afternoon. Scored the first try inside three minutes before getting flattened by CJ Stander. Sin-binned after half-time for a high tackle but returned to seal the win with his second try. 6.5

Anton Lienert-Brown: Maybe wasn’t as flashy as you might expect from an All Black centre but his defensive qualities couldn’t be questioned. Held the middle brilliantly. 7

Julian Savea: Not the best evening the experienced Hurricanes man has ever had, making a few uncharacteristic handling errors. 6

Beauden Barrett: Outstanding from start to finish. Ran the game right from his short kick-off. A lovely chip almost created a try just before he did touch down himself. Created the third try. 9

Aaron Smith: More like himself than he had been in Chicago but there was still the occasional error, and he allowed Conor Murray into the battle in the second-half. 7

Joe Moody: Found Tadhg Furlong plenty to deal with and was replaced early in the second-half. 6

Dane Coles: Popped up everywhere, including a couple of runs off the wing, and ended up gaining 51 metres. Typified their physical attitude. 8

Owen Franks: Did a lot of work at the breakdown and his tackling had an edge to it. 7

Brodie Retallick: They were glad to see him return. Not only did he secure all his own ball, but he managed to disrupt the giant frame of Devin Toner on occasion. 8

Sam Whitelock: Singled out for particular praise by Steve Hansen after the game, he battled through 80 minutes despite tiring, and he kept tackling. 7.5

Liam Squire: Had a tricky night in Chicago, but was better on Saturday night, doing some decent work in the lineout as well and helping with the defensive effort. 7

Sam Cane: Lucky to escape a yellow card for the tackle that finished Robbie Henshaw’s game and his own lasted just another seven minutes before he got hurt clattering Rob Kearney. 6

Kieran Read: A bit more McCaw-esque in his aggression and leadership, Read was a big figure in the New Zealand defensive effort. 8

REPLACEMENTS


Ardie Savea: An excellent display after being launched from the bench early on. 7.5

Wyatt Crockett: A solid final half-hour. 6

Charlie Faumuina: Got himself involved after coming in for Franks. 6

Aaron Cruden: Didn’t manage to impact on New Zealand’s attacking play, but solid defensively. 6

TJ Perenara: Lively again and played the final pass for the deciding try. 6.5

Codie Taylor: A busy final quarter-of-an-hour. 6

Scott Barrett: A bit more experience for one we’ll see more of. 6