Through immense grit and grind, the All Blacks have fought their way through Ireland to book a Rugby World Cup semifinal showdown with Argentina next weekend.
Wave after wave of Ireland’s green jerseys threw themselves at the New Zealand line with the clock ticking down. Ireland probed left,right, and tried pushing through the middle. Every attack was repelled until, finally, Ireland’s 37th phase ended and, with it, Irish hopes of a first semifinal were extinguished by a black blanket.
For all of their attacking, try-scoring might, New Zealand showed how to grind it out the hard way. The All Blacks withstood three comebacks from top-ranked Ireland and two yellow cards to win their gripping quarter-final 28-24 on Sunday and stay on course for a record fourth title.
The Irish trailed 13-0 and 18-10 in the first half, and by 25-17 in the second half, before a penalty try made it a one-point contest with a little more than 15 minutes left.
New Zealand resisted a huge maul on the tryline with a few minutes left and then incredibly withstood 37 Irish phases on the last, all-for-nothing Irish attack, to score the monumental victory.
Stat attack
Ireland go home after falling short again with an eighth Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat.
Ireland’s winning test run ended at 17, one short of the tier-one record held by England and New Zealand, and one short of a desperately-sought first semifinal.
Except for the penalty try in the 64th minute for Ireland, all of the tries were scored by New Zealanders: Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park for Ireland; Leicester Fainga’anuku, Ardie Savea, and Will Jordan for the All Blacks.
Sam Cane was immense for the All Blacks, the captain pulling off one of his better performances in the black jersey. He led the match with 21 tackles, ahead of Scott Barrett in second (18) and Irish forwards Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier and New Zealand’s Ardie Savea in third (17). Cane and Savea both had two turnovers each to lead the match.
Will Jordan is on a four-game try-scoring streak against Ireland, crossing over in Dublin in 2021 and in Dunedin and Wellington last year, before scoring a miraculous try in the quarter-final. He has scored five tries in four games at the World Cup and 28 tries in 29 tests for the All Blacks since making his debut in 2020.
Sam Whitelock is now the most victorious player in Rugby World Cup history, notching up his 21st win and counting. Trailing Whitelock are Richie McCaw (20), Keven Mealamu (19), Sonny Bill Williams (18) and South Africa’s Francois Steyn (17).
Beauden Barrett joined an exclusive club after the win, becoming just the sixth man to win at least 100 test matches. The most wins by a test player in order are Richie McCaw (131), Sam Whitelock (124*), Keven Mealamu (114), Kieran Read (107), Tony Woodcock (102), and Beauden Barrett (100*).
Conor Murray surpassed Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connor for the most World Cup games for Ireland in his 18th appearance.
Johnny Sexton played his 15th test against the All Blacks for Ireland, and 18th overall including the British and Irish Lions. He surpassed Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones (17) for most tests by any northern hemisphere player against New Zealand.
- With AP
Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.
