The Irish have pretty much wheeled out the same team from last year – all 15 of the this weekend’s starters were named in the match-day squad for the quarter-final defeat – bar a retirement of Sexton and a tweak here and there. As an Irish journalist pointed out to Scott Robertson at a media conference this week, there are no children in this Irish team. While other teams – including the All Blacks – look forward incrementally to the World Cup in 2027, it feels the Irish are stuck in a cycle of disbelief still over last year’s World Cup quarter-final.
A question...
And what if the Irish win on Saturday morning? What will that prove to themselves? Far be it from a New Zealander to comment on how other countries approach their World Cup defeats, but Ireland seems to be in the first stage of grief: denial.
An explanation...
That’s not to say they won’t win – and Ireland have moved back to world No 1 for a reason. They are a very well-organised team, know their game plan to perfection and have that intangible factor of belief. They’ve done what the All Blacks couldn’t this year and won in South Africa. But let’s not pretend that the World Cup quarter-final is irrelevant. It’s the very reason that Ireland is world No 1. Possible defeats aren’t being sold off under the guise of growth.
A suggestion...
The rugby union bunker needs to stop clocking off early. A peak “only international rugby” moment came with Anton Lienert-Brown’s yellow card. It wasn’t until 48 hours after he was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and referred to the bunker for it to be clarified that it remained a yellow card and wasn’t upgraded to a red.
When the match had finished, the incident was still under review, and later there was no information forthcoming from World Rugby regarding the status of the card. The All Blacks were still in the dark when asked later whether it had been upheld.
The bunker itself is a great idea, but once again communication lets it down. The information should be freely available.
Another question...
A diet of tests or a break in Portugal? Plenty has been made of the six-day turnaround the All Blacks have this week – easily the shortest they’ll face outside of the Rugby World Cup. It’s perhaps pertinent to mention the quarter-final win last year at the World Cup in France was on a nine-day turnaround.
Winning isn’t outside the question but just how a shorter turnaround will affect the All Blacks – while Ireland have been toughing it out in Portugal for a training camp in wait – remains to be seen.
All Blacks v Ireland, Saturday 9.10am
Live commentary on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio. Live match blog at nzherald.co.nz.
