McAlister's boot staves off the Irish invaders

Luke McAlister put six of his kicks over the crossbar. Picture / Dean Purcell

All Blacks 34 Ireland 23

There were rough patches for Luke McAlister when impulse outweighed necessity, when ambition eclipsed demand.

The rookie All Black first five-eighths may be a midfielder in waiting and will suffer in comparison with the imperious Daniel Carter.

Only McAlister can comprehend the effects of a test buildup when he battled an irregular heartbeat and learned that his father had parted coaching company with Manawatu.

But he managed to shelve those issues, a mixed night from his forwards and himself to pilot the All Blacks to victory against Ireland.

As Ireland got within nine minutes of cracking their century-old hoodoo against the All Blacks, McAlister banged over six second-half kicks to stave off the invaders.

He started with two dodgy efforts and missed a long-range final kick, but in between, goaled 19 points to add the trimmings to tries from Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina and Troy Flavell.

The 22-year-old McAlister had spent some time talking with coach Graham Henry after the mid-week trauma of missing training because of an irregular heartbeat.

"It's not what happens, it is how you handle it," McAlister told Henry, "so I tried to handle it the best I could. It is nothing to worry about. I try to live life like I was before."

McAlister bypassed an inquiry about any anxiety or whether his mind played any tricks on him during Saturday's international in Hamilton.

He preferred to describe how the All Blacks encouraged each other to stay with the game plan and not panic as they struggled to beat the Triple Crown champions.

"We came back in the last 20 minutes but it was a game which was all over the place," he said.

He told himself to stroke the ball for better rhythm after missing his opening two kicks but agreed he never felt totally comfortable during the match.

"Like any first five, when the forwards are going forward and the ball is coming quickly, it makes my job a lot easier. A few times the ball came slowly and we were getting the ball behind the advantage line.

"Once we started to hold the ball and go forward, things opened up more."

There was one classic, the try to Muliaina, from a set play off a scrum.

McAlister popped a pass to blindside wing Joe Rokocoko running off his shoulder, before a couple of short offloads then a sweet wide pass from Aaron Mauger hit the fullback. It was training ground precision. It was also a rarity.

The All Blacks tried to target Ronan O'Gara's defence, but a lack of momentum and solid Irish cover foiled that plan. The All Blacks pushed too many passes under pressure and in traffic.

"I was guilty of that and it kills us when we turn over the ball behind the advantage line," McAlister said.

The All Blacks had struggled to find the right balance between invention and carting the ball over the gain line.

"Our team is based on quick ball and going forward fast, keeping the ball alive and expressing ourselves, and to do that we need good ball going forward over the ad line."

Fullback Muliaina had a decent view of the difficulties unfolding ahead of him. Too often the All Blacks went to ground instead of grinding to stay on their feet and offering a target for their teammates. The support play was too lateral, it did not come from depth or behind the All Black ball-carriers and offered easier work for the Irish defence.

"We have a lot more room to improve but not a lot more than the Irish," Muliaina said.

"We kicked a little more [in the second half] to find some territory. I think we handled it well."

To win by 11 points with a rusty performance said something about the All Blacks' ability to confront the visitors.

Henry accepted his side had not played well in the first half, they had taken time to gel after a seven-month layoff, but had eked out a victory.

That showed some composure for all the problems of an untidy lineout, lack of preparation and some over-ambitious interplay.

"The All Blacks showed class when it was really put to them," gracious Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll said.

"They showed when not all is going right for them, they are still able to pull a game out of the fire."