Ireland Claim Incredible Win Over All Blacks.

I’ve been trying for days to put this match into words, and it’s taken me longer than most match reviews because I think I might just be too excited. So excuse if it’s a bit jumbled.

I want to start with a few quick fire observations then get into some more in-depth chat.

1. Peter O’Mahony’s passion will never be topped.

2. Gary Ringrose and Andrew Conway, but particularly Ringrose, care not about their health, only Irish Rugby.

3. James Lowe made me and a lot of doubters look real dumb, and I loved it.

4. Andy Farrell has given this team a new lease of life and creativity.

5. And finally, Ireland have found out how to beat anyone.

So there are my quick fire takes. Now let’s get into it.

Ireland beat the might All Blacks 29-10 with a play style and intensity I’m not sure I’ve ever seen from them. They suffocated the All Blacks in a way they haven’t experienced for quite some time. Usually it’s the All Blacks making other teams work until they’re completely out on their feet but somehow Ireland were able to reverse that. This ties in point 1, O’Mahony’s passion is infectious and whilst he wasn’t starting you know he had a huge impact on the team. It seems clear to me that the passionate leaders like him and Sexton have been given a lot of importance in the team. The way they played was so aggressive, hyped up and “in-your-face” that they must have been given a Paul O’Connell level team talk by the War Lord Pete. Or saying that, maybe they were given a pre-game talk by their forwards coach himself. Leaders popped up all over the park on Saturday from Sexton’s usual chirping, Henderson’s calm analytical presence, O’Mahony’s freneticism and Gibson-Park’s orchestrating. It was truly a day for leaders. Having these players in all aspects of the pitch to guide and motivate seemed to play a huge role. There wasn’t a moment in the game that Ireland didn’t look organised, motivated or at least massively capable of a skillful scramble. One moment of the game that really stuck out to me was on the cusp of half time two All Blacks on their knees raking in air then Perenara shouting at his forwards “one defensive set!” almost saying “one more defensive set then we can take a breather!”. Ireland made New Zealand make 231 tackles over the course of the 80 minutes which is absolutely exhausting to even write about. This sort of pressure, no matter skill, fitness or stature will tire you out. And Tire out the New Zealanders it did.

There are a couple of key moments for Ireland I want to talk about starting with the Ringrose/Conway tackle. There is so much to this 10 seconds of rugby to unpack. Firstly, New Zealand do brilliantly to create space with the cross field kick from Barrett that makes it’s way into Will Jordan’s hands. Keenan initially misses the tackle on him but Lowe comes in, shuts everyone up and makes a try saving tackle. From here Jordan pops it up into the hands of a full speed Jordie Barrett who is then tackled by Ringrose and Conway. Conway comes at the tackle in a sort of fish hook shape allowing him to tackle head on and cut most of the momentum which is great positioning but Ringrose has to do more to make the hit. As Barrett receives the ball and Conway is moving around to make the tackle, Ringrose is being held by New Zealand 13, Ioane, in an attempt to stop him helping make the tackle. Ringrose breaks free and puts his body completely on the line to stop Barrett being able to use his remaining momentum to go over the line. Now, I feel the most important thing to say about this is that Ringrose absolutely should have been taken off for an HIA that I think he likely would have failed. I don’t care how this would have impacted the match it should have happened, unfortunately it didn’t. As one Irish fan, who was at the Aviva, said on twitter “he didn’t know where he was for a good 5 minutes”. This should not be the case. With that said, it was phenomenal dedication from Ringrose, fantastic positioning from Conway and fantastic cover from Lowe.

See below in two crude screenshots showing how Ringrose goes from being held and pushed by Ioane to diving into the tackle:

The second key moment I want to talk about is another Lowe tackle. In the 71st minute, New Zealand start to break away and after beating a few defenders the ball is popped away to Ioane who is immediately and skilfully taken down. It seemed like Lowe almost purposefully presented the New Zealander and the ball to O’Mahony for one of his most swift turnovers. If Ioane gets the ball away it’s a 2 on 1 for New Zealand, such a high probability for a try even from that distance. This of course, is a game changing and arguably game winning tackle. No one can argue Lowe hasn’t been working on his defence. See in the picture below, the two New Zealander's circled with the lone Irish defender circled on the right as Lowe steps in to make the tackle.

New Zealand just seemed rattled by this new found intensity, they were caught on camera raking in lungfuls of air while taking a moment crouched, for their complaints of Sexton being a “mouthy c*nt” they consistently chirped and complained to the ref and they just didn’t seem to have an answer. Of course, New Zealand’s definition of “not having an answer” still includes getting points on the board but not in their usual fashion. New Zealand break down defences with skill, force or a mix of both but not in the same way Saturday. Whilst their try on 61” did show the usual skill and flair, that we’re accustomed to from them, their first try at 31” was due to a silly mistake by Ireland. Their force which can be so effective was nullified by a more physical and aggressive Ireland.

Not only did Ireland’s up front aggression and physicality win them the game, clearly some coaching differences did to. To me Andy Farrell loosened the reigns slightly; they gave them some space in attack and stepped away from the almost mathematical rugby we’ve seen Ireland play since Schmidt. It’s won them the Six Nations and some big games but even at its best I don’t think that game plan looked quite this good. There was expression, creativity and faith in each other to make the right decision. Ireland won’t yet be used to this kind of play but yet it seemed the players (and definitely the fans) loved it. This nicely moves onto point 5 that I made: Ireland, with this play style, can beat anyone. I know this is a big claim and maybe the excitement is getting to me but I genuinely believe it. A little while ago Squidge Rugby put out a video about Ireland in the Six Nations, in which he said that Ireland are great at making sure their opposition have a terrible game. This rings even more true to me now than it did at the time, but they’ve added to it. We expected Japan to play fast exciting rugby as they have done for quite some time, against Ireland they looked lethargic and out of Ideas. We expected the mighty All Blacks to bring their usual intensity, physicality and eye watering skill, they didn’t at all look themselves. Ireland have perfected making the opposition have a terrible game, but have added to that skill set making sure they have a fantastic game. This might sound a bit silly and I recognise that, but it truly is two different aspects of the game. Their defensive is abrasive, niggly, annoying and disruptive while their attack is clean, creative and unpredictable. They’ve taken the positives of their previous game plan and ironed out the issues.

If Ireland can play like this consistently and build over the next couple of years then they will be in wonderful stead coming into the World Cup, but as Sexton said in the post game interview “if this is the peak, it is no good for anybody”. This is the key that Farrell will be all too aware of, and hopefully taking steps to prevent.

Now we have to wait for more huge opposition. Whilst many people consider the All Blacks the pinnacle, let’s see this refreshed Ireland against the likes of South Africa, England or France and we’ll truly see where we stand. I can’t wait.