Can only credit Ireland for that one. You kind of expect them to come out fighting like madmen, passionate and tenacious against the AB's. From what I can tell they step up for these games big time.
The thing I liked about them most this time, they played proper bloody rugby for 80 minutes. How many times has this cliche been brought up?
They turned down easy 3 point opportunities (as you should against the AB's), but not without method. The AB's were weakened at lineout and they attacked it, for reward.
Side note: still don't know how they awarded Murhpy's try. They played to their strengths and attacked NZ's weaknesses. They defended well, made contestable kicks and won the bloody things. They kind of beat the AB's at everything they're supposed to be good at. All credit.
As for the AB's, oof. It had to happen, and it's hard to criticise a team that just won a record number of tests, but, they weren't good. Sorely missed the two best locks running around, badly. Kaino, used to running over people, got manhandled, twice. Losing the midfield didn't help. A.Smith had a shocker.
- Kicking, which they normally do a lot of, was woeful. None were contestable. This is usually a weapon but they were giving up the ball so often that they kicked less, and poorly.
- Basic skill errors, some under no pressure. A couple of poor decisions when under pressure.
- Discipline, 12-4 in penalties. Shooting themselves in the foot.
Anyhoo, given the recent history especially, Christchurch '12, Dublin '13 this was probably the easiest loss to ever take as an AB fan. Congrats to Ireland, I'll be cheering on Canada next week though.
