Two tries: Sonny Bill Williams
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New Zealand bounced back from last week's close call in style with an impressive 60-0 hammering of Ireland in Hamilton on Saturday.
After the heartbreakingly narrow defeat of last week, Ireland were no match for the effervescent All Blacks, who scored four tries in the first 25 minutes and looked dangerous at every turn. Dominated at the tackle - most unlike the Irish - and shredded out wide, the Irish just could not muster the spirit or precision of last week and were plain annihilated.
Perhaps the most satisfying aspect for the ABs was the nilling, however. Tries have never been a problem for this generation, but the fact that Ireland not only didn't score, they had only one kick at goal and barely once got close to crossing the whitewash will be a source of immense pride to Richie McCaw and his men. Ireland's most promising-looking first-half attack ended in a mistake and an All Black try. The overall penalty count against the hosts was ridiculously low.
Within seven minutes New Zealand had the advantage, Sam Cane finishing off a sweeping move out right. On a quarter of an hour Aaron Cruden produced a dart and a brilliant offload to put Sonny Bill Williams through the gap for the second. On 20 minutes it was the Cruden-Williams axis again, this time on a well-timed switch. And on 24 minutes it was an Irish error - Brian O'Driscoll spilling an ill-directed switch pass from Paddy Wallace - that gifted the ball to Cruden. Cruden scorched away and the two Smiths, Conrad and Ben, combined on straight lines and soft hands to send Ben away in the corner. It was all that simple, all that devastating.
The loss of Cruden to injury - a possible worry for both the Chiefs and the All Blacks - stymied the attacking rhythm for a while but did little to change the domination. Beauden Barrett landed a penalty with the final act of the first half, with the penultimate act being a harsh yellow dished out to Rob Kearney for what looked to be a legitimate interception attempt.
Ireland thus spent the first ten minutes of the second half a man down and paid for it with two more tries, one a series of three inside offloads finished off by Cane under the posts, the other a magnificent 50m finish from Hosea Gear. Barrett could only convert one, but that left Ireland trailing 41-0 after 50 minutes; New Zealand were good value for their near point-a-minute ratio and the Irish body count was rising.
Kearney's return changed nothing. Cane slipped a super ball to Messam on an super line for what was New Zealand's 100th-ever try against Ireland. Barrett's indifferent form with the boot continued as a comparatively easy kick bounced off the uprights.
Williams showed a rare glimpse of his complete skill set with a well-judged opportunistic grubber deep for Israel Dagg to run in the eighth try on the hour mark, this time Barrett converting.
New Zealand kept attacking, although some handling errors began to creep in. Ireland looked to move from deeper and deeper, presumably playing right into the hosts' hands. A handling error ten minutes from time and super delay of the pass from Barrett saw Adam Thomson run a direct line home for try number nine.
Ireland rallied hard, determined to get something out of the game, but there was no change to be had. In minutes 79, Keven Mealamu's well-timed charge on Eoin Reddan saw the half-back spill the ball and that was that. Firmly that.
Man of the match: Aaron Cruden was putting in a good claim for this until he went off after 25 minutes, Sonny Bill Williams dominated the centres, but it was Sam Cane whose domination in the loose created the space for his team-mates outside, and brace of tries gave his side a commanding lead.
Moment of the match: The fourth try. As exciting as it was clinical, it was curtains for Ireland after that.
Villain of the match: He reffed well, but for a really poor moment of judgement, referee Romain Poite gets this for the yellow card he dished out to Rob Kearney. Brian O'Driscoll called it 'ridiculous'. He was right.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: Cane 2, Williams 2, B.Smith, Gear, Messam, Dagg, Thomson
Cons: Cruden 3, Barrett 3
Pens: Barrett
Yellow cards: Kearney,40, Ireland - deliberate knock-on
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Richie McCaw (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Beauden Barrett, 22 Tamati Ellison.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Chris Henry, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzere (France), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Comments
powerplay says...
Abs second try-the one Cruden sets up-awesome! ..dummy, shimmy, and pass as he gets tackled to a rampaging sbw!
Posted 12:09 23rd June 2012
davodiablo says...
Kimbriki ....Gear stood to face Earls tackle and he ran face first at his elbow . There was nothing dirty at all just bad timing and poor execution .
Posted 12:09 23rd June 2012
powerplay says...
@ruggaluva
You forgot England too.
"skullduggery - for them it seems as much a part of the game as passing the ball."
Posted 12:00 23rd June 2012
ronanmeagher says...
I think O'Driscoll summed it up.....embarrassing.
NZ stepped up a gear or 2, Ireland stepped down.
Intensity and line-speed completely lacking from Ireland. Not sure if its a management thing or player thing, but they have turned up without either 4 times since January...against Wales and England, and also in the 1st test.
Through no fault of his own, as he was on a beach this time last week, Paddy Wallace was not at the races, and Kidney needs to take the blame there.
Well done NZ, good reaction from last week.
I think Ireland showed last week if they play with intensity they can match NZ, if NZ are either off their game or that intensity puts them off their game.
Earls has no one to blame but himself for getting a bashed face, too high in the tackle..........however, Gear lead with his arm not his hand, which is the legal way of fending, but leading with arm seems to have become the norm.
Posted 11:57 23rd June 2012
Gleek says...
My over ridding impression is that not that All Blacks were awesome (they were) or that Ireland were poor - they were - but that Declan Kidney hates Paddy Wallace. So much so that he will poisin his own coaching career just to spite the Ulsterman.
Under Kidney Wallace has become a hate figure for most Irish fans through no fault of his own. Tonight was a wonderful example of Kidney's campaign to besmirch Paddy. He started by cutting Wallace from the touring squad 5 weeks ago, ensuring he would be short of match fitness and out of sync with the rest the side. He then made Paddy fly to the other side of the world at little, with little prep time, giving the lad little time to find his feet before front up to the agitated All Blacks.
The result, Wallace is the worst player on the pitch and is hated even more by Irish supporters.
Ireland could have had mike Gibson at 12 and still would have taken a hiding tonight - I would do Kiwis the disservice of suggesting this display was the result of poor Irish selection, they were irresistible. It certainly didn't help. Only Cian Healy would push for selection by the All Blacks, Earls wouldn't even get a pro contract, let alone wear the black shirt.
@Kimbriki- Earls' tackle technique was appalling, too high and led with his head. Pure accident and mostly of Earls making. McCaw should have seen yellow for hand in the ruck during one Irish attack, that was about all the only bit of foul play from All Blacks.
Posted 11:42 23rd June 2012
blametheref says...
Besides Ireland's pressure game, gain line work and first up tackling being the poorest I've seen in a long time, Paddy Wallace was abominable at 12, it's no surprise Sonny Bill dominated this key area. The D'Arcy/BOD partnership was sorely missed (like in game 1) as we found ourselves 21-0 down after 20 minutes and yet Kidney persisted with this woeful backs alignment where for the first 20 minutes we saw Wallace slipping off SBW, putting passes behind O' Driscoll, knocking-on in contact and being anything but assured. The match was as good as over at this stage and it defies belief that Kidney didn't stick on Reddan at 9, O' Gara at 10 and Sexton at 12 and try and play a territory first policy to try and fix what was clearly wrong after 20 minutes. It was the 12 channel that put us in the manure and to have had a player like Downey instead of Wallace might have seen Sonny Bill being put under pressure and Ireland taking the ball into contact to try and get over the gain line, which we failed to do on nearly every occasion throughout the 80 mins. McCaw as immense and in the end NZ were easy-strolling through the slipped tackles of Irish defenders, shocking to witness!
There is no excuse for a 60-0 humiliation and lesson by NZ in how to bounce back after a bad performance (notwitstanding they won test 2), the Irish players are much better than this and Declan Kidney has to take responsibility and resign. English legend, Martin Johnson, who had a shorter tenure than Kidney up to the WC had to resign after the WC even though England did better than Ireland, where Kidney kept his job and further then after a mediocre 6 nations. There has to be accountability in Irish Rugby and until there is Ireland will continue to fail and underperform because the current ethos dictates rewarding failure. Declan Kidney should resign gracefully and if he doesn't he should be fired!
Posted 11:39 23rd June 2012
curates_egg says...
Wow. Destroyed indeed. I suppose a fitting end to this senseless 3 test tour at the end of a long season. Poor old BOD. The ABs were rampant.
Posted 11:38 23rd June 2012
capedcrusader says...
@ Kimbriki
I was wondering if someone would mention that. Guess what u pillic not a good idea to try to tackle someone around the shoulders. rule 101 it they dont have legs they cant run. Earls got what he deserved a physical fend off. How can the ref have a bad day when 60 pts are put on by a team & nil by the other. Troll off & learn the game b4 instilling ur pathetic comments on us who know rugby is a physical game played by man mountains. Infuriating
Posted 11:38 23rd June 2012
melkdave says...
Well what can you say a flawless performance from New Zealand ,and annother lesson to other countrys in just how to play the game,No excuses and nothing else to say really ,except it was a very good game to watch,which Wales- Australia wasnt
Posted 11:35 23rd June 2012
tha_mai says...
a mix of old and new - nine of today's AB side had under 10 test caps (incl 2 on 0, 2 on 1). thought the oldies did ok too, had doubts about Mealamu ever getting on the field again after such an injury break.
Posted 11:33 23rd June 2012
snewt says...
Correction ..Kimbriki get a life, the ABs murdered the Irish in all facets of the game, no matter what ref was there, Ireland just were not in it, end of story. Bring on the South Africans and the Wobblies ... Probably going to put them to the sword as well..
Posted 11:26 23rd June 2012
snewt says...
Kimbriki get a life, the ABs murdered the Irish in all facets of the game, no matter what ref was there, Ireland just were not in it, end of story. Bring on the South Africans and the Wobblies ... Probably going to put them to the wow word as well..
Posted 11:24 23rd June 2012
yelloj321 says...
Title should read, All Blacks embarrass hopeless Irish team. What a joke from the lads in green. We need to become completely self-sufficient, get rid of all the NIQs, we need a new coaching staff, and a proper backs coach, and we need players who don't lapse in and out of intensity. There is sweet all consistency in the national side. It's like they need some sort of whirlwind motivational speech to get them playing well. They should be aggressive whenever they put on the Irish shirt. They embarrassed their country, and heads should roll. Not a single frickin point, and yet they put 60 on us. We are no where near the level of NZ, and by the looks of things, we never will be.
Posted 11:20 23rd June 2012
bothhands says...
Looks like the complacency seesawed a 100%. What an embarrassing hammering for Ireland. Even if outclassed in every facet of the game, to remain scoreless for 80 mins is not acceptable. I wrote in another column that Ireland play emotional rugby. After the disappointment last week, seems they never got over it.
Posted 11:18 23rd June 2012
RealRugby says...
Great game to watch (as an AB supporter), well done to the ref for providing a free flowing game. Thought the AB's looked a little rusty in the first test, missed last weeks game, but today's performance was clinical.
I saw in the press that the Irish were going to target Cruden - and what a performance he put in before getting injured. Hopefully not out for too long.
Posted 11:14 23rd June 2012
armchaircritic says...
All Black rugby on display today was from a different planet.
What a pleasure to watch.
Ireland lucky to get nil.
Posted 11:13 23rd June 2012
philipjfry says...
63rd minute: O'Gara collects ball in his Ireland's 22, does not have any support/ imagination/skill hoofs the ball up into the sky, poor chase, AB's claim the ball, ruck, quick pass to SBW, puts little grubber through, no O'Gara at the back, Dagg collects scores the try. Conclusion: Don't use the up-and-under as a way to counter-attack. And breathe . . .
Posted 11:06 23rd June 2012
ABlack says...
thanks Ireland for doing the ABs a favour before the rugby championship. No complacency now
Posted 11:05 23rd June 2012
ruggaluva says...
@kimbriki.... the All Blacks have always been masters of the dirty stuff... masters because they do it far more under the radar which i find just as annoying - Boks are blatantly violent and barely attempt to hide it which is rather dumb but i still think the French and Samoa take the cake when it comes to skullduggery - for them it seems as much a part of the game as passing the ball. its a rough game though and if u dish it out u gotta expect to take it back.
Posted 11:04 23rd June 2012
olepete says...
The munching sound is me eating my words, they don't taste so good on the way back in. Grizzle on about the ref - he had a good day. And it was an arm, not an elbow.
Posted 11:03 23rd June 2012