Key events
25 mins. All that good work from New Zealand creating an eiderdown of promise is ruined when Aumua’s squint lineout throw vomits all over it.
24 mins. The All Blacks finally put some phases together from a lineout and it doesn’t take them long to get up to the Irish 22. There were carries from McKenzie and Clarke, with the soft hands of Sititi in the midst of it. Ireland are offside in defence – their lack of discipline when scrambling remains an issue – and this allows NZ to have a lineout deep in the attack zone.
22 mins. A break in play allows Ben Kay and Brian O’Driscoll to have some Sexton autobiography banter on comms. It was a woeful as you can imagine.
Mercifully we’re back in play and NZ continue to get a bit more a foothold in the match, but cannot hold the ball long enough to trouble Ireland enough. Shades of Twickenham last week with the lack of precision. The Irish to their credit are scrambling well and perhaps forcing some errors.
18 mins. A miss-pass is fired in the NZ midfield which achieves nothing but allowing Ringrose to put in a bone-powdering hit on Ioane it was so telegraphed. The All Blacks do enough to secure possession thanks to Tele’a’s knack of being able to get over the gainline whatever the circumstances. Honestly, that fella would still get through the first defender against a Panzer Tank XV.
15 mins. Will Jordan diffuses a Crowley bomb and finds a good touch to clear his lines. This looks an even better kick a few seconds later when Vaai’i nicks the Ireland lineout and the home defence concede a penalty for obstruction.
13 mins. There’s been a bit of niggle present so far and it finally boils over into some pushing and shoving, with Scott Barrett and Joe McCarthy the main event amongst the pasty. When it all calms down we return for an Ireland scrum just in the NZ half.
12 mins. Hansen is lively as usual so far, popping up all over the park and this time his pass in midfield slips through Aki’s hands under zero pressure around halfway. Pretty poor from the big centre.
PENALTY! Ireland 3 – 3 New Zealand (Damien McKenzie)
10 mins. Ratima picks up a loose ball that has come off Ref Berry and scoots 30 metres upfield, this puts Ireland on the scramble and they infringe at the next breakdown in their half.
McKenzie decides he fancies it. It’s the correct call.
PENALTY! Ireland 3 – 0 New Zealand (Jack Crowley)
7 mins. Ardie Savea makes a meal of getting the ball away from a solid NZ scrum before McKenzie creams a massive touchfinder. Ireland are quickly back at them via a Gibson-Park kick that Hansen chases.
The ref rules the Ireland winger was impeded in his chase by Jordie Barrett. It looked a bit harsh, but that doesn’t trouble Crowley who puts his side in front from the tee.
4 mins. First scrum of the game is Ireland’s and gives the two packs an early chance get a feel for each other. There’s couple of no-fault collapses before the ball emerges into the green backline. They are making some headway around the 22, with Hansen and Doris having a carry each before Ringrose fumbles it forward.
2 mins. Ireland are tenacious in defence and already Ratima is hurried into a box kick that’s charged down by Porter from the fringe of the ruck. As the black defence scramble they knock the ball on as they snatch at it on the ground on their 10m line.
Kick off!
Nick Berry toots his disciplinayy flute and we’re underway, the ball received by Ireland.
Haka Response Watch!
Rieko Ioane leads his team in the pre-match challenge, Ireland take the traditional interlocked arms round the shoulders, standing in a line while staring approach.
But wait! There’s a late stroll forward a few steps by the Irish. The crowd react a bit before it all comes to an end quickly.
The teams are in the tunnel, waiting for the bit when the drums and bass drop in “Where The Streets Have No Name” before they are allowed to run on the pitch. Which the duly do.
“Can remember giving out an involuntary cheer at the end of FNL season 1 as it’s a different end to that of the film and book.” says Morgan. “Properly felt like a Shane Williams scoring against Scotland moment at the time. If that is a spoiler for anyone, all three have been out for over a decade.”
WhistleWatch
Referee: Nic Berry (Aus)
Asisstants: Karl Dickson (Eng) & Andrea Piardi (Ita)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Aus)
“New Zealand have a lot of growth still needed both in the playing and coaching staff, some decent baby steps this season but plenty to work on.” posits Bernards Ben on the email, “Ireland by some accounts view us as public enemy #1 these days, the arena’s going to be incendiary! One good thing about the All Blacks though, a win is never an outlandish prospect. And yet I still this is it Ireland’s game.”
Pre match reading
Andy Farrell has already had a good week with his big win on the Wigan RLFC monthly lotto!
Ireland fans will hope that hasn’t used up all his luck before this match.
Why not get in touch and tell me about your favourite character or storyline from Friday Night Lights? Was season 2 as poor as people said at the time (I don’t think so)? Or I suppose we could talk about the actual game if you insist. Whatever you fancy chatting about email me your thoughts or you could reach out on Bluesky @bloodandmud (I’m done with X these days)
Teams
Andy Farrell will be pleased to welcome back Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and Jamison Gibson-Park; each of whom have been fundamental to the success of this side in recent years. Tadhg Furlong is out, however, which brings Finlay Bealham into the pack.
New Zealand will play tonight with the injured Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor. This turn of events means Scott Robertson plays Damien McKenzie at 10 and Asafo Aumua continues at hooker, where he played most of last week v England following Taylor’s early injury.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Jamie Osborne
New Zealand: Will Jordan; Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke; Damien McKenzie, Cortez Ratima; Tamaita Williams, Asafo Aumua, Tyrel Lomax, Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa’i, Wallace Sititi, Sam Cane, Ardie Savea
Replacements: Gorge Bell, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Pasilo Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Cam Roigard, Anton Leinert-Brown, Stephen Perofeta
Preamble
Welcome to Dublin, where Ireland commence their Autumn International fixtures by welcoming New Zealand. This should be quite the Test match, and that’s before you consider the men in green are facing the team that splintered their collective souls into a million pieces with that defeat in the quarter-final of last year’s Rugby World Cup.
This could bring as much drama as the TV show that shares the timing and illumination status of this clash – Friday Night Lights. Indeed the Ireland team is not unlike the Dillon Panthers of that serial. A serious but inspiringly dark eyed coach who’s been married for ages and has kids miles apart in age; key players in the team giving more than a hint they might be too old for the role by this stage of the series; a key playmaker still in the shadow of his more talented predecessor; and a suited back office director or sport type bloke behind the scenes who has a record of not treating women in the employ of his company very well. (Yes, I bloody love the show Friday Night Lights, what of it?)
All this is to say that Ireland come into this match with the nagging feeling that the squad is both overcooked in age profile and undergarnished in terms of preparation; especially matched against the two hit outs the All Blacks have absorbed.
It’s a tricky tie to call. New Zealand are nothing like the side they have been for most of their existence, with some fundamental issues still be resolved by Scott Robertson, not least their discipline. Andy Farrell’s men are as usual made from a core of a Leinster team that have coasted their way to an undefeated domestic season, will this plus the short time in camp be enough to have them ready to deal with an NZ squad giddy from a Twickenham win?
Stick around with me to find out.
