MY ACCOUNT
Ireland produced an outstanding performance to beat New Zealand 29-20 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Andy Farrell’s men, spurred on by a raucous home crowd in Dublin which relished an intense display from the hosts, overwhelmed the All Blacks.
New Zealand kept themselves within touching distance throughout despite being second best in most metrics but were unable to overcome a spirited Ireland side.
The visitors came within yards of the opening try on 10 minutes but Ronan Kelleher crucially intercepted, before Codie Taylor was shown a yellow card in the 13th minute for a high tackle on Johnny Sexton.
3 – This is just the third time the All Blacks and the Black Ferns have lost on the same day:
01/12/2012 (both v England)
17/11/2018 (Black Ferns v France, All Blacks v Ireland)
13/11/2021 (Black Ferns v France, All Blacks v Ireland).
Repeat.
Ireland took full advantage as James Lowe scored the first try of the game in the corner just over a minute later.
Despite being largely on top, Ireland went in 10-5 behind at the break after a Jordie Barrett penalty and a converted try from the returning Taylor.
Ireland started the second half brightly with Kelleher forcing the ball over for their second try, though Sexton missed his conversion for a second time.
The home crowd did not have to wait long to see their team ahead though as Caelan Doris raced away to score Ireland’s third try, and it was third time lucky for Sexton with the extra two points, before adding another penalty before the hour mark to stretch the lead to 10 after a 15-point swing.
A rare lapse in concentration allowed the All Blacks to add another converted try through Will Jordan’s 15th score of 2021 – no other player from a Tier 1 nation has reached double figures – but Joey Carbery added an Irish penalty straight after replacing Sexton, who came off with a head injury.
A disallowed New Zealand try was followed by a penalty that briefly reduced the gap to three, but a Carbery kick from the halfway line soon restored the six-point advantage, and another three from the same man just before the end saw Ireland home for a famous win.
Ireland close to perfect in Dublin
This was as good a performance as Farrell could have hoped for, and it is testament to his team that they probably should have won by more.
Ireland had 66 per cent of possession, 72 per cent of territory, almost three times as many carries (68-23) and more than three times as many passes (175-57).
All Blacks a shadow of usual selves
Ian Foster will have been less pleased with what he saw from the world’s number one team, though will surely concede that the quality of his opponents on the day was a bigger factor than his own team’s performance.
This was just New Zealand’s third defeat from 41 Tests in Europe (W38), with those other losses coming at the hands of Ireland (16-9 in November 2018) and England (38-21 in December 2012).
