All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test

junior

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

@Tim said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

Reece's 29th minute try was due to a very laboured, and inaccurate, pass from Sexton. I guess he had gotten his head knock when he slipped into a tackle a few phases earlier.

Up until that point the game was pretty even. NZ making some mistakes, but our set-piece was better.

That whole passage of play from the Irish, even before Sexton was pretty untidy, there was a fumble backwards prior to the sexton contact and was a mess from there

That whole passage of play was the perfect example of how and when things will go wrong for a team like Ireland when they go off script.

Tim

Straight from the kick-off Barrett put up a poor kick, allowing Ireland back on to attack. That's the stuff he needs to nail down.

Tim

No real power in defence when Ireland scored after the break. Tackles were made, but no dominance, and Ireland recycled quickly and made ground too easily. Need a couple of defensive hitters in the loose forwards to counter that.

Tim

Three excellent defensive plays from Ioane in about 15 minutes of play: a tackle and counter-ruck for a turnover, then the two try savers.

Tim

Christie's box kick looks better behind a good lineout ...

Tim

Great lineout challenge and counter maul from Retallick on the 62 minute mark.

Tim

Taukei'aho puts some real heat into his carries and tackles. Beast.

Tim

Great agility from Whitelock for his turnover on 66 minutes. The old fella had a big game.

Tim

Irish openside didn't even get close to breaking from the scrum when Sowakula scored. Massively pumped at scrum time.

Tim

Great tackle near the end from Fainga'anuku on the line. Ennor is incredibly lucky to have played test rugby.

taniwharugby

@Tim yeah they werent happy with the ref on that, but Sowakula is already past the flanker by the time he realises and breaks into the ref, they were never getting him there.