There was no repeat of heroics for Ireland this evening as the men in green went down 21-9 to New Zealand in the Aviva stadium tonight.
In a highly anticipated game following on from the historic victory in Chicago two weeks ago, Joe Schmidt’s men were undone by a determined All Blacks in Dublin this evening.
The kiwi’s who were demolished two weeks ago were hell-bent on revenge this evening and got off to the perfect start by crossing the white wash in the 3rd minute. However a determined Ireland tried to strike back and were rewarded when Johnny Sexton slotted over the bar minutes later.
In a pulsating game Ireland were restricted by a determined New Zealand defence and they paid the price physically when Sexton, Renshaw and Stander were all forced to leave the field with injuries, with Henshaw being taken off on a stretcher.
Clearly shaken by the costly losses Ireland were further behind when Barrett added a controversial try for New Zealand when it looked like he didn’t ground the ball, but he was given the benefit of the doubt by the TMO. However Ireland managed to stay in the game at the break when Paddy Jackson slotted over to leave the scores at 14-6 at half time.
Ireland began the second half with a high tempo and were unlucky not to score a try as a strong All Blacks defence held firm, although Jackson did manage to reduce the deficit to five when he slotted another penalty over the bar. But that was as good as it got for Ireland and the game was effectively killed when Fekiota crossed over after a brilliant move by the All Blacks to make the score 21-9.
With the game drawing to a close Ireland did push for a consolation try but the New Zealand defence held firm to claim a comprehensive win.