New Zealand may not be as strong now as they were at the World Cup, but to beat Ireland by 10 points here they only needed to be cute and competent. It is hard to remember when Ireland made so many mistakes in a big Test match. Every time they turned the key in the ignition and pressed on the accelerator they just flooded the engine.
Going nowhere. Stuck. How times have changed.
The last time Ireland lost at Lansdowne Road was against France in February 2021, 20 matches ago. In the media, and elsewhere, Andy Farrell was being hammered. Billy Burns was at 10 – passing through – and very few people could understand yet what the Irish coach saw in Jamison Gibson-Park.
One newspaper front page – taking a tone – declared that Farrell had “big questions to answer”. “Our approach and our attitude doesn’t change,” said the Irish coach, calmly, steadfastly, stoically. Eleven players who saw action against France that day played in the Aviva last night.
In the revolution, not that many heads rolled. The difference, though, cannot be expressed simply in winning streaks or world rankings. Ireland expect to beat New Zealand now.
There are no excuses and there is no menu of honourable alternatives, all of which makes last night’s performance so hard to swallow. In the bloodstream of Irish rugby, New Zealand was the cholesterol we couldn’t shift. Despite a decade of better outcomes, the risk of a cardiac episode never went away.
The lights were dimmed for the prematch .
