Steve Hansen’s post-match interview with RTE got a bit tetchy

Barrett was at his playmaking best with a pin-point cross field kick to the All Black centre in the opening minutes of their rematch with Ireland in Dublin.

Hansen believes his team will benefit from two thunderous clashes with Ireland as they build towards next year’s Lions series and their three-in-a-row attempt at the 2019 World Cup. The last nation to beat the All Blacks in back-to-back Tests was South Africa in 2009, and the tourists will run out at the Aviva Stadium determined to avenge their Chicago defeat.

The visitors stormed out of the gates on a mission to reassert their dominance.

Ireland scored five tries in Chicago but none at home.

On the injury front, he added: “We’ve got three guys getting head injury assessments – Rob Kearney, CJ Stander and Robbie Henshaw”.

Tactically New Zealand will not be looking to change too much.

Despite the loss, Taylor said that Steve Hansen’s team were not surprised with the levels of physicality and intensity Ireland brought to the game earlier this month.

“I don’t think it would tarnish Chicago if we didn’t get the right result”.

“Today was all about how they would stand up to that pressure. they answered that”. When Barrett sliced through Ireland without a hand on him direct from a scrum eight minutes later – and maybe touched it down over the line – the All Blacks had Ireland where they wanted them.

“That was almost embarrassing”, Barrett said.

“I thought we didn’t get the rub of the green on the (two) calls but that’s something that can be a distraction, it’s not for us to make those decisions”.

The Irish in reply could muster only two first-half penalties, one each by Sexton and his replacement Paddy Jackson, despite forcing New Zealand down to 14 men after scrumhalf Aaron Smith was sin-binned.

But he felt there was controversy over Beauden Barrett’s try, New Zealand’s second, which the TMO awarded despite one image which seemed to show Jonathan Sexton preventing the All Blacks fly-half from grounding the ball.

The defeat to Ireland and the subsequent backlash from media outlets may have led to a fear of defeat that the New Zealand team could not have envisaged repeating. But the All Blacks could just as easily argue – and nearly did without getting specific – that they had two separate tries wrongfully ruled out and that Ireland, too, could have been hit with double yellow cards.

“Certainly we must improve our discipline as we conceded 12 penalties in Chicago that allowed them to kick for position and put us on the back foot the whole time”. On Saturday, they’ll be seeking a second win over the mighty All Blacks in two weeks.

“Of course when you have a bit of downtime and you’re on your own you drift away a little bit but ultimately Ireland’s success under Joe (Schmidt) has been all about minute by minute”, he said.

“That tag is something for the media, for press conferences”, said Best, of Hansen installing Ireland as favourites.

It came at a cost in personnel to the Irish as a third player CJ Stander had to go off. How they held together – at times with 14 men – was miraculous.

“I grounded it”, the All Blacks first five-eighth said. “I saw the same things happening to us”.

New Zealand complete their tour next Saturday versus France in Paris, while Ireland try to end Australia’s grand slam bid.

There’s a lot to be said about this and also about other issues relating to the situation of the sport in the Pacific Islands.