Ireland suffered an eighth Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit in their history, as New Zealand beat them in a Paris epic
A ruthless New Zealand side broke Ireland hearts at the Rugby World Cup quarter-final stage again, as the All Blacks prevailed 28-24 at the Stade de France in Paris.
In a breathless first half, the All Blacks raced out to a 13-0 lead through a Leicester Fainga’anuku try, and the boots of Richie Mo’unga and Jordie Barrett, but Ireland recovered well to narrow the half-time gap to a single point at 18-17.
Ireland’s Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park scored tries during that opening period – either side of an Ardie Savea try for New Zealand and Aaron Smith’s sin-binning for a deliberate knock-on – as Andy Farrell’s team fought back, but their inability to strike in the 22 enough proved a major factor as Will Jordan put the All Blacks back to two scores ahead with a second-half try.
Ireland – Tries: Aki (27), Gibson-Park (39), Penalty Try (64). Cons: Sexton (29, 40). Pens: Sexton (22).
New Zealand – Tries: Fainga’anuku (19), Savea (33), Jordan (53). Cons: Mo’unga (21), J Barrett (54). Pens: Mo’unga (8), J Barrett (14, 69).
Ireland responded again as their pack forced a penalty try when Codie Taylor collapsed a rampaging rolling maul, with Taylor also sin-binned for the act. But the men in green crucially failed to score against the 14 players, suffering yet another agonising last-eight exit.
Mo’unga kicked New Zealand into an early 3-0 lead, and, despite several key Ireland chances in the 22, the All Blacks then blew out the scoreboard on 19 minutes with a stunning counter-attack try down the left.
Beauden Barrett created it as he chipped and regathered, before Jordie Barrett, Fainga’anuku and Rieko Ioane connected superbly, with the latter offloading inside magnificently for Fainga’anuku to score.
New Zealand’s Leceister Fainga’anuku scored the opening try of the contest
Mo’unga converted brilliantly for 13-0, but Johnny Sexton finally put Ireland onto the scoreboard after a cheap penalty for blocking.
On 27 minutes, Ireland – fuelled by the twinkling feet of Mack Hansen – played on penalty advantage before Aki scored a stunning solo try.
Ireland’s Bundee Aki replied with a brilliant solo run and score
Ireland’s lineout continued to falter, however, as, after losing another set-piece, New Zealand produced a 50:22 and were in for their second try through Savea, quick ball in the 22 paving the way for a diving finish in the corner.
Mo’unga struck wide with the conversion to leave the All Blacks up by eight, but scrum-half Smith was sin-binned with four minutes of the half to play.
Ardie Savea’s try in the corner came at a crucial time for the All Blacks, just after Ireland had hit back
After one Ireland attack was illegally halted, Ireland showed courage to kick to the corner again, from where Gibson-Park sniped and reached to score superbly.
Ireland continued to waste chances when well-placed, though, their first three attacks in the 22 in the second period each coming to nothing as the All Blacks defended strongly.
Jamison Gibson-Park scored Ireland’s second try on the cusp of half-time, but they wasted many other chances
The stark difference in ruthlessness was then laid bare when Mo’unga and Jordan cut through the heart of Ireland’s defence to score a try off a lineout within their own half.
Jordie Barrett lashed over the touchline conversion for a two-score lead at 25-17, and Ireland then lost key man Hansen to injury, before Sexton should have narrowed the gap back to five points via a penalty, but struck poorly wide.
Ireland continued to play in the New Zealand half, and in the 64th minute the pack sprinted forward for a penalty try which resulted in Taylor’s yellow card, handing Ireland a golden chance inside the final quarter. New Zealand were next to score, however, as Jordie Barrett struck over for a four-point lead.
Aki forced a breakdown penalty within moments, and though Ireland’s maul got rumbling forward again, Ronan Kelleher was agonisingly held up as he dived for the line.
The All Blacks’ defence just held out in the second half to claim victory
Caelan Doris then knocked on the goal-line dropout to compound the error, with Taylor’s sin-bin elapsing for no Ireland score.
Farrell’s men summoned up one final effort through 30-plus phases into the New Zealand 22, but they just fell short.
Sexton: I’m very proud of the boys and the nation | ‘We couldn’t have done more’
Ireland captain Sexton told ITV Sport post-match…
“I’m very proud of the boys. Proud of the nation, the country, we couldn’t have done any more really.
“It’s fine margins, they sucker punched us on a couple of tries and we had to work really hard for our tries, that’s what champions do.
“Fair play to them, they’re a cracking team. It’s been amazing, these last six weeks have been a dream. This group, these fans and I’m just gutted we couldn’t do it for them.
“You’ve got to work hard for fairy-tale endings, we didn’t get it and that’s just life.
“We didn’t leave a stone unturned, we ticked every box, trained the house down. I thought after a slow enough start we played alright tonight.
“Fair play to the All Blacks, they’re a very good team and well coached.”
New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said post-match…
“It was a massive game between two teams that were desperate for a result and they’re an incredibly proud team with an amazing record coming into this one.
“But the quarter-finals is about knockout rugby and we’ve been there before and we know we were going to have to dig into ourselves, we did and I couldn’t be more proud.
“Pretty important, wasn’t it? [Barrett holding up Kelleher over the try-line]. He got himself underneath it and that’s the game of small margins. Our defence was particularly strong for most of the game.”
What’s next?
The defeat means Ireland exit at the quarter-final stage of a World Cup for the eighth time in their history, and have still yet to make a World Cup semi-final. They exit having topped Pool B after wins over Romania, Tonga, South Africa and Scotland, before falling to the All Blacks as they did four years ago in Japan.
The victory means New Zealand progress to the World Cup semi-finals for the ninth time in their history, and will face Argentina at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday October 20 (8pm kick-off BST).