ON a day where pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for Ireland did, they were denied back-to-back wins over a cynical New Zealand.
After the historic Irish win in Chicago, the All Blacks looked to have set the tone in the opening three minutes as they roared out of the traps. A short kickoff led to instant pressure and when Malakai Fekitoa touched down in the corner, it looked like the start of a potentially long evening for the hosts.
But Sean O’Brien’s break moments later was the first signs of an Irish performance that surpassed Soldier Field in terms of intensity, but lacked the cutting edge.
A fair degree of that was down to the All Blacks, whose tackling at times crossed the line. Referee Jaco Peyper did bin Aaron Smith in the first half and Fekitoa in the second, but there could have been more.
Ireland weren’t helped at all by the loss of three key players in the opening half hour. First Robbie Henshaw shipped a high tackle from Sam Cane, who escaped a yellow card as the Leinster man left the field on a stretcher, though he was able to watch the second half from the replacements bench.
Then Jonathan Sexton went off after an apparent recurrence of his hamstring injury before CJ Stander was then temporarily replaced for a HIA test, only to fail it and miss the rest of the game.
Sexton had come within inches of denying New Zealand their second try with a stunning tackle on man of the match Beauden Barrett.
The newly crowned World Rugby Player of the Year cruised through a gaping hole in the Irish defence to breeze over the line, but Sexton chased the lost cause and appeared to have gotten his arm beneath the ball as Barrett attempted to ground it.
The TMO, Wales’ Jon Mason, thought different and awarded the try.
Sexton was gone soon after and with Ireland 14-6 down – their points from penalties by both fly-halves – the hosts did have a let off when referee Peyper deemed Barrett’s dislodgement of the ball from Paddy Jackson’s chest as a knock on rather than a tackle.
Joe Schmidt said it was "incredibly disappointing" to fall short today. https://t.co/6EAojbH9aO — RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) November 19, 2016
That left it 14-6 at the break and you wondered if Ireland, particularly Sean O’Brien, could sustain their colossal effort. They forced penalty after turnover at the breakdown and were largely the better side.
They were able to match the effort in the second half, but still the scores wouldn’t come. New Zealand defended their tryline manfully and despite all of Ireland’s possession and territory, they lost the second half as well.
A Jackson penalty on 57 minutes cut the gap to 14-9 and the home crowd started to sense that the momentum would carry Ireland to an even more momentous victory than a fortnight ago.
But with just over ten minutes remaining, Barrett’s brilliance created a try for Fekitoa, though there were suspicions of the final pass from TJ Perenara having been forward.
South African referee Jaco Peyper, whose decision to refuse to go to the TMO in Paris earlier in the year cost Ireland what may have been a match-winning try against France, again declined Rory Best’s protestations, and the day was done.
