Ireland A – 19
All Blacks XV – 47
THESE KIWIS LOOKED like they were out to start settling a score on behalf of the nation of New Zealand. The rivalry with Irish rugby is at a new level in their eyes after the exploits of Andy Farrell’s men down there over the summer.
The All Blacks XV – the new second national team of New Zealand – were superb at the RDS as they gave Ireland A a rough night with their aggressive defence and scintillating attack.
With experienced Test halfbacks TJ Perenara and Damian McKenzie highly influential, the New Zealanders had too much class for an Irish side made up of players who hope to have good Test careers. Tonight’s tough outing won’t have helped their cause, even if Andy Farrell will tell them to learn from their deficiencies and come back stronger.
The big show this weekend is tomorrow evening’s Test against the Springboks, but Farrell will be disappointed that his A team weren’t able to make this a contest. They were sloppy in much of their play, particularly at the attacking breakdown.
But the Kiwis deserve credit for their good work. They clearly learned a huge amount from Ireland’s attacking success in New Zealand during the summer, with tonight’s All Blacks XV regularly making good reads and tackling Irish players ball-and-all. The Springboks will be planning to do the same tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi attack was a delight to watch. McKenzie was the chief orchestrator with his visionary prompting and prodding, while right wing Shaun Stevenson delivered another classy performance as he scored twice. When they got into a flow, the Kiwis proved impossible for Ireland to live with.
Their power game was prominent too and they got the better of the tight exchanges, with Ireland struggling to win the gainline in order to allow their attack to flourish. The All Blacks XV had turned up with a stronger team on paper than initially expected and their muscular performance was led by another experienced All Black in second row Patrick Tuipulotu, as well as less heralded stars like flanker Dominic Gardiner.
There were a few bright moments for Ireland, with Ciarán Frawley, Marty Moore, and Max Deegan bagging tries for Farrell’s side but all in all, it was an evening to forget for the men in the green jerseys.
The visitors struck first following the scrappy opening stanza, with McKenzie’s pinpoint cross-field kick allowing right wing Shaun Stevenson to gather without even jumping, Ireland skipper Craig Casey having lost track of the ball in the air as he tried to scramble across. McKenzie converted the 11th-minute try.
A pair of Irish turnovers at breakdown and lineout, then two penalty concessions at the breakdown gave the All Blacks XV their next good platform, with the Kiwi maul powering over from five metres out just after the quarter mark, hooker Brodie McAllister the man to dot down.
14-0 behind, Ireland needed to stem the tide and two surges from centre Jamie Osborne gave them brief momentum, but the Kiwis then stole an Irish lineout in their own 22, back row Dominic Gardiner getting a hand to Dave Heffernan’s throw and McKenzie scooping up the loose ball to break out and spark a stunning try.
He found Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, whose loose offload was gathered by Patrick Tuipulotu, who found McKenzie scorching up on the inside for a second touch. The Kiwi out-half swung a beauty of a left-handed pass wide to fullback Ruben Love, who fed Stevenson to step back inside Nick Timoney to finish the sweeping move.
McKenzie’s shot was wide this time but Ireland were struggling and needed the poor discipline of Kiwi flanker Luke Jacobson – who recklessly charged in the side of a breakdown to smash James Hume and was deservedly sent to the sin bin – to give them a leg-up into the game.
Having been shut down by the aggressive, clever Kiwi defence up to this point, they finally put together a flowing passage of attack that featured strong carries from Jacob Stockdale and Jeremy Loughman before Hume sent Cian Prendergast bursting into a gap. The Connacht man offloaded to Tom O’Toole and the Ulster tighthead skilfully did the same to send Frawley over between the uprights two minutes before half-time.
Frawley converted to bring Ireland back to 19-7 at the break but their pain resumed immediately after the restart as the brilliant Stevenson broke out of his own 22 and linked inside to scrum-half Perenara, who sent Love over for their fourth try, with McKenzie converting.
Ireland had an extended period of pressure down in the Kiwi 22 in response but twice they coughed up turnovers with the tryline in sight, their poor work at the attacking breakdown continuing.
In contrast, the All Blacks XV were clinical with their next chance, McKenzie inviting Gardiner to break the line and find AJ Lam, who offloaded to centre Braydon Ennor. McKenzie’s conversion made it 33-7.
Munster out-half Jack Crowley added a bit of energy off the bench in place of Frawley, with his half-break leading to a penalty that eventually resulted in sub tighthead prop Marty Moore burrowing over from close range for the second Irish try as the game ticked toward the final quarter.
The New Zealanders’ answer was almost instantaneous as Love made a scything break on the right following an intercepted Crowley pass before slick handling from McKenzie, Ennor, and busy number eight Marino Mikaele-Tu’u allowed Lam to finish out on the left.
McKenzie deservedly got in on the try-scoring in the 74th minute after Gardiner collected the ball bobbling loose at another poor Irish breakdown, replacement Josh Ioane breaking through a huge hole in midfield and feeding McKenzie with what looked like a forward final pass. The score stood and McKenzie converted.
There was a hint more consolation for the Irish team in the 78th minute as replacement back row Max Deegan powered over, Crowley converting this time, but this was the Kiwis’ night.
Ireland A scorers:
Tries: Ciarán Frawley, Marty Moore, Max Deegan
Conversions: Ciarán Frawley [1 from 1], Jack Crowley [1 from 2]
All Blacks XV scorers:
Tries: Shaun Stevenson [2], Brodie McAlister, Ruben Love, Braydon Ennor, AJ Lam, Damian McKenzie
Conversions: Damian McKenzie [6 from 7]
IRELAND A: Mike Lowry (HIA – Shane Daly ’30 to ’40); Calvin Nash, Jamie Osborne, James Hume (Shane Daly ’57), Jacob Stockdale; Ciarán Frawley (Jack Crowley ’47), Craig Casey (captain) (Caolin Blade ’68); Jeremy Loughman (Dave Kilcoyne ’52), Dave Heffernan (Diarmuid Barron ’52), Tom O’Toole (Marty Moore ’52); Joe McCarthy (Ross Molony ’8), Gavin Thornbury; Cian Prendergast, Nick Timoney, Gavin Coombes (Max Deegan ’56).
ALL BLACKS XV: Ruben Love (Josh Ioane ’66); Shaun Stevenson, Braydon Ennor, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Alex Nankivell), AJ Lam; Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara (Cam Roigard ’66); Aidan Ross (Finlay Brewis ‘), Brodie McAlister (Tyrone Thompson ’66), Tevita Mafileo (Tamaiti Williams ’52); Josh Dickson (Zach Gallagher), Patrick Tuipulotu (captain); Dominic Gardiner, Luke Jacobson (yellow card ’31), Marino Mikaele-Tu’u (Christian Lio-Willie ’68).
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