Ireland v New Zealand: rugby union autumn internationals
“We’ve got a lot of head injuries to deal with. and see how those guys come through the week”, he said.
Ireland weren’t helped at all by the loss of three key players in the opening half hour.
The Ireland captain Rory Best and his children. But can they do it again on home soil?
“In the previous game we didn’t shape enough with the kicking”, said Barrett.
The first anniversary of legendary winger Jonah Lomu’s death had also been discussed among the group, with Read labelling the Kiwi wrecking ball one of his favourite players.
With Murphy ruled out by a knee injury, Joe Schmidt retains the other 14 men who started in Chicago for the contest at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
“He just needs to have a look at that”.
“Did we play the smartest rugby?” They scored two tries within 14 minutes, then spent most of the second half repelling more than a dozen Irish advances with last-ditch turnovers and disruptive fouls.
“Do you want me tell you we’re a dirty side or something?”
“It (the focus on the referee) doesn’t surprise me”.
Israel Dagg, who missed the Chicago game, returns on the right wing and will provide a safe pair of hands under the high ball that Ireland used to great effect at Soldier Field as they peppered the All Blacks’ back three.
“When things don’t go your way, which happens during the game, you gotta just get tighter in that circle and probably take a bigger look in everyone’s eyes and know that everyone is there on the same page and we all want the same thing”.
Pre-match coach Steve Hansen spoke of the importance of keeping this stat respectable; it couldn’t all be blamed on ill-discipline, Ireland’s fiery temperament and technical nous at the breakdown forced errors, and their potent attack meant conceding penalties was the only option when guarding the tryline.
“The attitude was good”.
“You’ve got to have that as a goal and you’ve got to strive for those trophies at the end of the season”.
“We felt we let ourselves down, let the jersey down in Chicago”.
After suffering a shock defeat when these teams met in Chicago a fortnight ago, the All Blacks are hurting and will be out for revenge as that result was their first loss in 2016 and ended their 18-match winning streak which is also a world record for tier one nations.
With the euphoria of the last meeting between these two sides only just starting to fade for millions of Ireland fans, New Zealand have arrived in Dublin demanding a rematch.
“Well, they’re a young side”, he said.
It’s a win that will live long in the memory of the rugby faithful in Ireland, although we can imagine it has been very firmly been pushed to the back of the players’ minds by the voice of Joe Schmidt.
“I think there is a willingness and a desire to be better all the time when you hear them talking. that’s the sign of a good team that is going places”, said Read.
“You expect a couple of penalties but 12 – that is really an off day”. Ireland, England and France are good sides. Their kicking game, one of their strengths in the USA, will need to be on point, and the pressure will be on Simon Zebo, who was excellent in Chicago, and Rob Kearney to compete with New Zealand for every kick that Jonny Sexton sends down the field.