Lacklustre start for All Blacks

All Blacks 34 Ireland 23

This All Blacks side with a taste for breaking records almost had a major milestone snatched away last night.

The Irish had never beaten the All Blacks in 18 attempts since first meeting in Dublin in 1905 - the closest result being a 10-10 draw in 1973 - but for 74 minutes last night, they looked like they might finally be free of that 101-year millstone.

While the All Blacks made all of the running last night, they also made all the mistakes and certainly didn't look the typically clinical side expected under Henry and Co.

New Zealand trailed 16-8 at halftime and not until the 74th minute did the black machine finally get back in front to the relief of most of the 30,000-strong crowd at Waikato Stadium last night. They might have used their get-out-of-jail free card for the year a little earlier than hoped.

For 35 seconds last night, everything seemed on track. The All Blacks revolution seemed to have picked up where it left off last year and the shellshocked Irish might have just been hoping to keep things respectable.

Fullback Mils Muliaina had broken a limp Irish tackle in his own 22 before offloading to a strangely sluggish Aaron Mauger, who seemed to find himself inside the body of a scooter rather than a Harley Davidson.

But Mauger, knowing that he wouldn't be able to burn off the Irish cover defence, at least had the presence of mind to pass to Howlett to do what he does best - score tries. It was the winger's 42nd in only his 51st test. He's now four behind Christian Cullen's all-time record.

Although the All Blacks played with pace and power for another five minutes, it was a false promise.

What surfaced was about as welcome as a big zit on the face of a teenager about to go out on a hot date. Kicks went out on the full, lineout throws missed their mark and knock-ons became far too frequent for players of this level.

Admittedly the Irish deserve a great deal of credit, as rugby folk like to say, as they adopted a smothering defensive pattern that strangled the All Blacks but it was downright ugly and lacked structure.

Perhaps the opening try was the worst thing that could have happened to the home side because they might then have been expecting a comfortable night's work.

The Irish, though, didn't need a second invitation and when Brian O'Driscoll crossed in the 10th minute, it was game on. O'Driscoll was the beneficiary of a beautifully-timed Gordon D'Arcy pass that showed rugby isn't all about size and strength, as he was also the beneficiary of some static All Blacks midfield defence.

O'Driscoll flashed a smile, something not seen in New Zealand last year after 'that' tackle, and the Irish sensed they could compete.

O'Gara potted three penalties while Luke McAlister responded with one in the opening half to give the Irish a 16-8 lead at the break.

It looked like Henry had delivered a few carefully chosen words at halftime because the All Blacks returned with some purpose and bridged the gap inside four minutes.

From a lineout, McAlister popped up a perfect no-look pass to Rokocoko and within what seemed a split second, Muliaina was ghosting into the right-hand corner.

Order was restored, or so we thought. Surprisingly, Andrew Trimble restored the eight-point lead after a period of sustained Irish pressure. Lock Paul O'Connell had gone close but D'Arcy again laid on the last pass for Trimble to sprint in behind the posts.

McAlister nailed a couple of long-range penalties to close the gap to 23-21 to set up a grandstand finish with 20 minutes remaining.

O'Gara missed his first penalty attempt for the night and the All Blacks hammered away at Ireland's line before McAlister landed a crucial penalty that saw the All Blacks take the lead for the first time since the 10th minute.

In a bizarre piece of play, Peter Stringer tried a chip kick inside his own 22 which almost landed in the arms of a team-mate. Instead, it landed in Ma'a Nonu's grateful hands and he burst through one tackle before offloading to Troy Flavell to score.

It might have looked like joy on the faces of the All Blacks players and fans. It was really relief.

So much for the luck of the Irish.

All Blacks 34 (D. Howlett, M. Muliaina, T. Flavell tries, L. McAlister 4 pens, 2 cons)
Ireland 23 (B. O'Driscoll, A. Trimble tries, R. O'Gara 2 cons, 3 pens).
HT: 8-16.