Watch: US president Joe Biden confuses All Blacks with controversial army group

Dejected All Blacks after losing to Ireland at Soldier Field in Chicago, 2016. Photosport

United States President Joe Biden mistakenly confused the All Blacks with a controversial pro-British police reinforcements group from the Irish War of Independence while touring Ireland after regaling about the nation’s famous 2016 rugby victory.

Biden is on tour in Ireland and was speaking in a Dundalk pub when referring to Ireland rugby great Rob Kearney who he shared the stage with.

Kearney was part of the Ireland side that defeated the All Blacks at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2016, the side’s first-ever win over New Zealand.

Biden was explaining to the audience about the significance of the shamrock tie he was wearing which was gifted to him when he was vice president at the time by Kearney after the famous win.

President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks at the Windsor Bar and Restaurant in Dundalk, Ireland. Photo / AP

“This was given to me by one of these guys right here. He was a hell of a rugby player. He beat the Black and Tans, my god. ... I’ve still got the tie. I wear it with great pride,” Biden said.

The Black and Tans were mostly British soldiers recruited to the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s. The group had a reputation for brutality with their actions alienating public opinion in both Ireland and Great Britain during the conflict. They continue to be a source of derision today.

Joe Biden, talking about his distant cousin Rob Kearney being in an Irish rugby team that beat the All Blacks, just said they “beat the hell out of the Black and Tans”.

Irish Twitter is going to have a field day. pic.twitter.com/QOohYaJ9TY

— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) April 12, 2023