Over the last 11 years, Ireland have arguably overtaken the Wallabies as the All Blacks’ second-biggest rival behind the Springboks. Here’s how the last 10 matches have built a new rivalry:
The last 10 tests between the All Blacks and Ireland going back to 2013 - have been split five wins each. Photos / Photosport
2013 – All Blacks 24 Ireland 22
November 24, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Ryan Crotty crosses the line to score the last try of the game in the 2013 test in Dublin. Photo / Photosport
A penalty with time up on their 10-metre line and the All Blacks ran. And they ran. And they kept the ball alive for 80 seconds and multiple phases until it became a rub-of-the-eyes moment because Ryan Crotty was over in the corner.
But the drama was only beginning. The TMO was called in – was it a forward pass from Aaron Cruden to Dane Coles? Didn’t look like it but the crowd howled, the TMO took an age, the crowd howled some more and no one was sure. Finally, referee Nigel Owens gave it.
Then the kick. Aaron Cruden slapped it a bit and it was going to fall short but what would you believe – the Irish had broken ranks early with the charge and Cruden was given another go.
He nailed it. Of course he did – and incredibly, so incredibly, the All Blacks had stolen the test.
Ireland No.8 Jamie Heaslip celebrates their win against the All Blacks. Photo /Brett Phibbs
It took them 111 years to do it. They had come so close before – most notably the last time they played. The Irish played their hearts out for 80 minutes this time. Not 79. And this time they didn’t feel the weight of history and buckle. They continued to play rugby all the way to the hooter and they won.
The All Blacks helped them no end, too. Feeling the pressure for most of the game, they only had a 15-minute spell when they played like they can. Their skills wilted for the first time in 19 tests.
They dropped balls. They missed tackles and they were indecisive and ultimately, they didn’t have the escape-from-jail card they had in 2013. Ireland were the better side. Ireland played more of the rugby and Ireland, maybe, wanted it more.
Ireland’s first win in 29 tests against the All Blacks. Then they would win four of the next seven.
Beauden Barrett on his way to scoring a try in the 2016 test in Dublin. Photo / Photosport
An absolutely brutal encounter. Two weeks after the Chicago test and the All Blacks were hell-bent on not losing two in a row to Ireland.
As Gregor Paul wrote at the time: “This was test match football as it’s supposed to be. Breathless, endless, brutal. The commitment from both teams was total. The collisions were major – broken limb sort of stuff and yet players kept hitting each other and bouncing up”.
Beauden Barrett kicked out wide to set up a Malakai Fekitoa try after just three minutes. A few minutes later, Barrett saved a try at the other end, holding up Sean O’Brien. That was as close as the Irish got to scoring. Barrett wasn’t done there, breaking the Irish line to run 30 metres uncontested in the 14th minute for the All Blacks second try.
The All Blacks then played 20 minutes with 14 players in an ill-disciplined performance after Aaron Smith and Fekitoa were sent to the bin either side of halftime.
A second Fekitoa try after the break with 15 minutes left secured the win.
Jacob Stockdale scored the only try of the test, a superb set move swinging back to the blindside off the lineout before the Irish winger chased down his own kick into open space. Sexton was superb off the tee, kicking 11 points.
The All Blacks had a chance to at least earn a draw with time expired before Brodie Retallick dropped the ball.
“It will be a long, long time before we witness a performance that brave. They were the better team. They had an answer to everything the All Blacks threw at them and they never panicked, never looked overawed by the occasion,” Gregor Paul wrote at the time.
It was a performance worthy of granting them “best-in-the-world status’, though nether side would make the World Cup final a year later.
Aaron Smith scores the first try in the 2019 quarter-final win over Ireland. Photo / Photosport
It was a blockbuster quarter-final which was repeated four years later but this one was nowhere near close. Ireland’s shock pool defeat to Japan meant an early knockout meeting with the All Blacks and yet another early exit home.
The difference between the All Blacks and Ireland at Tokyo Stadium could not be starker.
“With relentless intent and accuracy, the All Blacks’ definition of methodical was magical,” Liam Napier wrote.
“With set plays, wrap-around loops, wingers popping up on the other side of the field, cross-field kicks and offloads, the All Blacks produced so many variations Ireland had no clue what was coming next from where.
“Try as they might, Ireland were abysmal.”
The All Blacks took a 22-0 lead into the break and any Irish hopes of a comeback were dashed when Codie Taylor dived over eight minutes into the second half. Seven tries to two. But sadly for All Blacks fans, that’s where the side peaked at the tournament.
The Irish were superb and the All Blacks were staunch on defence, making umpteen-and-a-half tackles each to take a halftime lead – but in the end, a few key moments went the way of the home team. Rieko Ioane threw a slight forward pass to his brother which saw a try denied and the All Blacks, down six, uncharacteristically took the three points.
It was a well-deserved win for Ireland, who have become real rivals for the All Blacks. It was so good to watch the TMO stopping play regularly to let the referee catch a glimpse of the action. Could have done without the whinging from both sides though.
Ardie Savea runs to score during the first test against Ireland at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport
A pretty decent statement by the All Blacks to start the year in the first part of a thrilling Ireland trilogy. After questions over Ian Foster’s team following defeats to Ireland and France to end 2021, the All Blacks come out firing at Eden Park, scoring six tries against the best defensive team from the Six Nations.
They also did it despite a week disrupted by Covid (remember that?) which saw them robbed of three players and four coaches. The highlight of the test came in the second half with Ardie Savea’s second try in which he beat three defenders on the way to the line. A thing of beauty.
There were four cards in the first half, including the sending-off of Angus Ta’avao for an accidental head clash. That inexplicably led to the All Blacks deciding to take Ardie Savea, AKA their best player, off the field – which due to an error by the match officials, meaning he was gone for the rest of the match. Shambles.
Ireland took the opportunity, eventually. Prop Andrew Porter crossed twice and Johnny Sexton kicked them to victory, handing the All Blacks their first home defeat since September 2018. At the time, it was a rare event.
A woeful first half saw the All Blacks trail 22-3 to leave 38,000 fans, and everyone watching from home and pubs around the country, shellshocked. With an inspirational performance on his home patch, Ardie Savea did his best to strap the All Blacks on his back and carry them to some semblance of a comeback. From a seemingly unwinnable position, suddenly the All Blacks closed to within five points. Johnny Sexton increased Ireland’s buffer only for Will Jordan to burst on to an inside ball from Savea and sprint 80 metres to score a magic try. Then all hope was crushed.
Rob Herring’s lineout-drive try after 64 minutes ultimately broke the fightback. It was the first time in 24 years the All Blacks had lost successive home tests – John Hart’s 1998 side was the last team to endure such a run, and the first time since 1994 they’d lost a home series.
The All Blacks were the underdogs, which rarely happens and makes this win even more special. It was an instant classic and one where the All Blacks had to play near-perfect rugby, including the most famous 37 straight phases in World Cup history as they defended for many minutes at the end to hold Ireland out and hand them yet another quarter-final exit.
Sam Whitelock once again pulled off the key play, standing over the ball to win a penalty to end the game. Three great tries, the first from a regathered Beauden Barrett chip-ahead before Reiko Ioane assisted Leicester Fainga’anuku in the corner, then Ardie Savea diving in the right-hand corner and the brilliant Richie Mo’unga run to set up Will Jordan to give the All Blacks a 25-17 lead. But Ireland kept coming at them to cut the lead to one with a penalty try and a Codie Taylor yellow card. Jordie Barrett kicked a penalty and, more importantly, held up a try as the All Blacks defended for the final 10 minutes.
Rieko Ioane had some words to say after the win – adding some more fuel to what has become a fiery rivalry.
