NZ Herald's Rugby World Cup news show Beyond the Game sees Cheree Kinnear and Elliott Smith unpack the All Blacks' victory over Ireland in their quarter-final match.
Video / NZ Herald / Sky Sport
Let’s hear it for the boys
Quarter-finals tend to be easily forgotten, even if they’re as brilliant as the All Blacks’ 62-13 win in 2015 against France in Cardiff.
But the 28-24 victory over Ireland in Paris was so dramatic, so stunning, and against such huge odds, it’s a gameto remember for a lifetime.
Strike one against New Zealand was that Ireland had been so much the form team before the Cup that they were aiming for their 18th straight test victory.
Strike two was that the All Blacks played 20 minutes with 14 men. The penalty try, and binning of Codie Taylor in the 63rd minute was sadly fair. But the yellow card in the 36th minute for Aaron Smith was pin pricking nonsense from yet another over-zealous television match official. (At that point my working title for this column was “**** Wayne Barnes.”)
But despite it all, and as scarily close as the score got, the Irish never took the lead.
Argentina, who we’ll meet next weekend in a semifinal, played very well in their 29-17 defeat of Wales. But only complacency can now stop the All Blacks marching to the final. In a team as maligned as this New Zealand side has been, even a hint of arrogance would seem highly unlikely.
Hail the chief
A week ago I wrote of Sam Cane that “I haven’t met a more decent, measured, determined person. Injuries have been a curse for him in recent seasons, but fully-fit, as he hopefully is now, the opportunity has arrived to show he’s a leader for the ages”.
In Paris, he topped the tackle count against Ireland with 21, carried impeccably, joined with Ardie Savea in winning the breakdown battle, and looked so fierce when cameras zoomed in on him, no teammate could have been uninspired.
When he was a schoolkid, Cane worked for men’s wages, putting up fences on the family deer farm near Reporoa. It somehow feels right that an All Blacks leader in 2023 has a background that old school giants of the amateur game would applaud.
Sam Cane stamped his name on the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Getty Images
Boldness was his friend
A perfect example of Richie Mo’unga at his best came in the 52nd minute, when, against what’s been the best-organised defence in world rugby, he decided to run, 70 metres from the Irish line.
There had been quick ball from a shortened lineout, which meant Mo’unga speared between a hooker and a flanker into clear country. After flying for 35 metres, he fed Will Jordan, and Jordan’s run to the tryline was as guaranteed as night following day.
Early in his test career, Mo’unga didn’t seem as confident in an All Blacks jersey as he was when he ran the Crusaders backline. Any hesitancy, on the evidence of the Irish game, has gone, and he has the self-belief he’s earned with his huge talent.
Don’t mess with the new kids
Having mastered the Irish pack in the scrums, the replacement of props Tyrel Lomax and Ethan de Groot with 19 minutes to go felt tinged with risk.
Instead Fletcher Newell, in his 12th test, and Tamaiti Williams, in his sixth, settled in as if a knockout World Cup game in front of 78,845 people in Paris was as familiar to them as a Canterbury game in ramshackle Apollo Projects Stadium. The New Zealand coaching group’s confidence was based on solid foundations. Although they’re both only 23, Williams tips the scales at around 140kg, and Newell holds the Crusaders’ gym record for squatting a casual 255kg.
A couple of decades ago, a bunch of Taranaki kids running home barefooted to Pungarehu from their primary school, 3.5km down a road called The Surf Highway, may not have attracted much attention from resilient local farming people.
But three of those hardy kids grew up to be All Blacks, and Beauden, Scott, and Jordie Barrett all played big roles in the quarter-final triumph.
Scott was dynamic in the forwards, and Beauden and Jordie had their best games of the Cup in the backline. Beauden’s perfect chip and regather, that led to Leicester Fainga’anuku’s try in the 18th minute, was a reminder that, on song, this is a man twice judged the world player of the year.
Fair play to him, too
Ireland’s captain, Johnny Sexton, at 38 knows that his last chance at World Cup glory has gone.
So it wasn’t pleasant to see tears welling in his eyes as he spoke after the test. He has a reputation for not being the most gracious loser in rugby, but bravo for the fact he summed up the game by noting that the All Blacks were “a very good team, well-coached. Fair play to them”.
