The historic hits keep coming for Ireland. A first win in New Zealand last week was followed by another first in Wellington: a second straight win over the All Blacks to clinch the Test series against rugby’s most formidable nation for the first time since the two began in 1905.
“This is a special group,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell reflected amid jubilant scenes. “It’s probably the hardest thing in world rugby. We said it would be the start of our World Cup year, but I don’t know, it’s probably a bit bigger than that.
That consideration of this historic achievement was placed in the context of the next milestone is a testament to his upbeat, grounded but clearly inspirational leadership of Ireland. “It is clear how much faith [we have] and it starts with the main man, Faz,” said Ireland captain Jonny Sexton. “It’s all his credit, really.”
For all of Farrell’s actions beforehand, it was those on the field who had to seize the moment and for the third week on the bounce, Ireland touched down early. Josh van der Flier’s flop after three minutes set the tone for the highlights of an all-good first half for Ireland.
An organized and dynamic multi-phase attack, combined with strength and guile in tight situations, limited New Zealand to a Jordy Barrett penalty and set up a number of extra tries before the break. The first came from a superb dropped pass that found Hugo Keenan to ground wide on the left, before two quick phases behind a scrum in the All Blacks’ 22 allowed Bundy Aki to feed Robbie Henshaw, who galloped over unopposed. Sexton’s added conversions allowed the captain to lead his side from the field 22-3.
As disjointed and nervous as the hosts were in the first 40, that was quickly eradicated early in the second, particularly under the boot of Ardi Savea. The New Zealand No.8 took charge of getting his side back into the game by running over two Irish players to open his country’s try account, then slotting in among Ireland’s breakthroughs to win a penalty.
Robbie Henshaw pounced to score. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile/Getty Images
Speaking of penalties, a key moment appeared to come in the 50th minute when Andrew Porter collided with a head in his battle with Brodie Retallick. At first glance it looked similar to the incident that saw Angus Taavao see red last week, but Wayne Barnes deemed Porter’s contact less dominant and only gave a yellow.
Undaunted by any sense of injustice, the All Blacks scored within a minute, Akira Ioane with his first international try after a strong break put through the lackluster games of Dan Sheehan and Van der Flier. Sexton extended the lead from the tee before Savea – the cavalry’s one-man attack – produced a clever pass to Will Jordan to take the winger 80 meters to touch down.
With 20 minutes to go and three points adrift, the next score was decisive. Rob Herring, fresh off the court, coolly hit his jumper from the line before peeling off the back of the game and weaving through an army of defenders to stretch to the line.
Rob Herring reaches out to score. Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
The 10-point cushion did little to ease the sense of dread as New Zealand dominated the closing minutes. With that, Tadhg Beirne decided Savea would not take the individual plaudits at the end, with the Munster Lock making three decisive defensive tackles at the break. They each killed off a ferocious All Black attack. Amazing effort that wins the game. As the clock ticked down to the final minute, Peter O’Mahony was already in tears – the scale of the achievement was palpable. After all, he wasn’t the only one. “I bet we’ve got four million at home for breakfast, we’ll probably have two pints looking at us,” Sexton said. “We talk about them all the time, we want to make them proud and we certainly did.”
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“This has never been done before,” added O’Mahony. “It’s something I never thought possible as a youngster, but now the young lads back home will know it can be done.” After 100 years of trying, this Ireland team has introduced a step change in the art of the possible.
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