THE IRISH FANS among the 61,841 people in Soldier Field burst into a reverberating rendition of The Fields of Athenry with 55 minutes on the clock.
Ireland were 13-7 in front at that stage, a creditable scoreline given that they had lost Tadhg Beirne to what seemed like a harsh 20-minute red card in the first half, but this didn’t feel or sound like a celebratory version of that famous Irish rugby song.
Instead, the impression was of the Irish supporters sensing that their men needed to find another surge of energy. Ardie Savea’s scintillating first-half try was still fresh in the memory, and the worry was that the Kiwis would find another few spurts like that one.
And so proved to be the case, as the All Blacks blitzed Ireland with three scores in the final quarter, heavyweight replacement prop Tamiati Williams, sub back row Wallace Sititi, and scrum-half Cam Roigard scoring, the second of them a real peach of a score.
Ireland will have more than a few regrets. Having lost lineout leader Beirne in just the third minute, their lineout never recovered and finished with a meagre 69% return on their own throw, while the scrum was a source of momentum for the Kiwis too.
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And to concede four tries will be frustrating for defence coach Simon Easterby, with the Kiwis always capable of finding a sliver of space.
Andy Farrell’s men had moments where things clicked for them, most notably a powerful, precise first-half try finished by Tadhg Furlong, but this was a bitty, stop-start performance pockmarked by errors.
They will look back on moments when they just couldn’t convert in promising positions, with a couple of offloads inches away from sticking and a couple of attacking kicks agonisingly close to producing something special, but they were ultimately second best.
This was a third consecutive defeat for Ireland against the All Blacks, a concerning trend given the relatively brilliant run against them from 2016 through to 2022, when there were five Irish wins in 10 meetings.
Farrell will certainly back his team to improve across the course of this November campaign, with games against Japan, Australia, and South Africa to come, but it was a disappointing start to a tough run of fixtures.
Cam Roigard celebrates with Leicester Fainga'anuku. Photosport / Robert Alam/INPHO
Photosport / Robert Alam/INPHO / Robert Alam/INPHO
Soldier Field was the scene for perhaps Irish rugby’s most famous day in 2016 but there was to be no repeat of that feat back on Chicago soil nine years later.
The first half was a frustrating, broken-up, slightly bizarre content that took just over 50 minutes to complete.
Beirne’s 20-minute red card came early on, with his high tackle on Beauden Barrett sent for off-field review. It looked like passive contact, but foul play review officer Dan Jones decided on red.
The All Blacks had huge losses of their own, with Scott Barrett and his brother, Jordie, forced off injured in the opening quarter. That was their captain and lineout caller, as well as their attacking fulcrum gone. Throw in HIAs for Simon Parker and James Ryan and it was stop-start stuff.
But Ireland went into and held onto a 10-7 lead from the red-card period and deserved it based on the first half overall, with plenty of big moments in contact and a particularly impressive impact from inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
Finlay Bealham runs into a wall of New Zealand shirts. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The Kiwis scored a classic try of their own to respond to Furlong’s effort, with Savea finishing after the excellent work Leicester Fainga’anuku and the thrilling Will Jordan from inside their own half.
Ireland had laid down a blitzkrieg in the 22 for Furlong’s score, with McCloskey, Josh van der Flier, James Lowe, and Jack Conan all carrying before the tighthead prop battered over.
Jack Crowley added penalties in either half to give Ireland their 13-7 advantage but they couldn’t hold on in the final quarter and the impact they hoped from off their bench failed to materialise.
The Kiwis rubbed salt in the Irish wounds with a late try from dashing scrum-half Cam Roigard, with the accurate Beauden Barrett converting successfully.
Farrell has been left with plenty of food for thought and the worries about his team trending in the wrong direction won’t ease until they can come up with a statement performance. This wasn’t it.
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Tadhg Furlong
Conversions: Jack Crowley [1 from 1]
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Ireland second best in Soldier Field as All Blacks blitz second half
Ireland 13
New Zealand 26
THE IRISH FANS among the 61,841 people in Soldier Field burst into a reverberating rendition of The Fields of Athenry with 55 minutes on the clock.
Ireland were 13-7 in front at that stage, a creditable scoreline given that they had lost Tadhg Beirne to what seemed like a harsh 20-minute red card in the first half, but this didn’t feel or sound like a celebratory version of that famous Irish rugby song.
Instead, the impression was of the Irish supporters sensing that their men needed to find another surge of energy. Ardie Savea’s scintillating first-half try was still fresh in the memory, and the worry was that the Kiwis would find another few spurts like that one.
And so proved to be the case, as the All Blacks blitzed Ireland with three scores in the final quarter, heavyweight replacement prop Tamiati Williams, sub back row Wallace Sititi, and scrum-half Cam Roigard scoring, the second of them a real peach of a score.
Ireland will have more than a few regrets. Having lost lineout leader Beirne in just the third minute, their lineout never recovered and finished with a meagre 69% return on their own throw, while the scrum was a source of momentum for the Kiwis too.
And to concede four tries will be frustrating for defence coach Simon Easterby, with the Kiwis always capable of finding a sliver of space.
Andy Farrell’s men had moments where things clicked for them, most notably a powerful, precise first-half try finished by Tadhg Furlong, but this was a bitty, stop-start performance pockmarked by errors.
They will look back on moments when they just couldn’t convert in promising positions, with a couple of offloads inches away from sticking and a couple of attacking kicks agonisingly close to producing something special, but they were ultimately second best.
This was a third consecutive defeat for Ireland against the All Blacks, a concerning trend given the relatively brilliant run against them from 2016 through to 2022, when there were five Irish wins in 10 meetings.
Farrell will certainly back his team to improve across the course of this November campaign, with games against Japan, Australia, and South Africa to come, but it was a disappointing start to a tough run of fixtures.
Soldier Field was the scene for perhaps Irish rugby’s most famous day in 2016 but there was to be no repeat of that feat back on Chicago soil nine years later.
The first half was a frustrating, broken-up, slightly bizarre content that took just over 50 minutes to complete.
Beirne’s 20-minute red card came early on, with his high tackle on Beauden Barrett sent for off-field review. It looked like passive contact, but foul play review officer Dan Jones decided on red.
The All Blacks had huge losses of their own, with Scott Barrett and his brother, Jordie, forced off injured in the opening quarter. That was their captain and lineout caller, as well as their attacking fulcrum gone. Throw in HIAs for Simon Parker and James Ryan and it was stop-start stuff.
But Ireland went into and held onto a 10-7 lead from the red-card period and deserved it based on the first half overall, with plenty of big moments in contact and a particularly impressive impact from inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
The Kiwis scored a classic try of their own to respond to Furlong’s effort, with Savea finishing after the excellent work Leicester Fainga’anuku and the thrilling Will Jordan from inside their own half.
Ireland had laid down a blitzkrieg in the 22 for Furlong’s score, with McCloskey, Josh van der Flier, James Lowe, and Jack Conan all carrying before the tighthead prop battered over.
Jack Crowley added penalties in either half to give Ireland their 13-7 advantage but they couldn’t hold on in the final quarter and the impact they hoped from off their bench failed to materialise.
The Kiwis rubbed salt in the Irish wounds with a late try from dashing scrum-half Cam Roigard, with the accurate Beauden Barrett converting successfully.
Farrell has been left with plenty of food for thought and the worries about his team trending in the wrong direction won’t ease until they can come up with a statement performance. This wasn’t it.
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Tadhg Furlong
Conversions: Jack Crowley [1 from 1]
Penalties: Jack Crowley [2 from 3]
New Zealand scorers:
Tries: Ardie Savea, Tamaiti Williams, Wallace Sititi, Cam Roigard
Conversions: Beauden Barrett [3 from 4]
IRELAND: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey (Bundee Aki ’57), James Lowe; Jack Crowley (Sam Prendergast ’68), Jamison Gibson-Park (Craig Casey ’68); Andrew Porter (Paddy McCarthy ’67), Dan Sheehan (captain) (Rónan Kelleher ’63), Tadhg Furlong (Finlay Bealham ’60); James Ryan (HIA – Caelan Doris ’33 to ‘HT), Tadhg Beirne (20-minute red card ’3) (Iain Henderson ’23); Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (Caelan Doris ’52).
NEW ZEALAND: Will Jordan; Leroy Carter (Damian McKenzie ’63), Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett (Leicester Fainga’anuku ’16), Caleb Clarke; Beauden Barrett, Cam Roigard (Cortez Ratima ’77); Ethan de Groot (Tamaiti Williams ’48), Codie Taylor (Samisoni Taukei’aho ’63), Fletcher Newell (Pasilio Tosi ’62); Scott Barrett (captain) (Josh Lord ’3), Fabian Holland; Simon Parker (HIA – Wallace Sititi ’30 to ‘HT, permanent ’60), Ardie Savea, Peter Lakai.
Referee: Pierre Brousset [FFR].
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Chicago Ireland New Zealand Report Second best soldier field stop-start