Will Jordan’s late try handed New Zealand a comfortable 23-13 victory over an error-strewn Ireland in Dublin.
The boot of player of the match Damien McKenzie, restored to the number 10 shirt with Beauden Barrett out with concussion, kept New Zealand ahead of and Ireland team who were uncharacteristically poor in what was their first international of the autumn.
Ireland scored the opening try of the game through Josh van der Flier shortly after half-time to take a 13-9 lead, with New Zealand down to 14 men after Jordie Barrett was sin binned for a high tackle.
However, more penalties from McKenzie, plus Jordan’s score in the 68th minute, gave the All Blacks a comfortable lead they never relinquished.
“It was intense out there,” Ireland skipper Caelan Doris said post-match, ruing his side’s ill-discipline.
“They were quality, we weren’t good enough.”
New Zealand led heading into half-time through McKenzie’s boot, although Munster flyhalf Jack Cowley kept Ireland in the contest with two penalties of his own.
The gap at half-time was just three points after Barrett was sent to the sin bin just before the break for a high shot on Garry Ringrose.
The TMO decided a yellow card was sufficient, to the relief of the All Blacks, who conceded the first try of the game to van der Flier when down a man.
Jordie Barrett was sin binned for this shot on Garry Ringrose. (Getty Images: Sportfile/Seb Daly)
That gave Ireland the lead, but those repeated infringements continued to hurt the Irish, with McKenzie continuing to accumulate points off the tee before Jordan finished off a well-constructed move in the corner.
In the final 10 minutes, Ireland pushed for a try, with ex-New Zealand Māori winger James Lowe kicking the Irish into a prominent position from an impossible angle to get the crowd off their feet.
However, another error at the breakdown saw the All Blacks clear their lines.
Although most of the Irish were guilty, second half substitute Ciarán Frawley in particular had a shocker for Ireland’s Six Nations champions, the Leinster man dropping ball after ball to continually hand New Zealand possession after he came on.
“We knew coming here it was going to be an incredibly tough match,” McKenzie said.
“Test matches like that are won in small moments, and we capitalised on a couple of those moments.”
It ended world number one Ireland’s 19-match unbeaten run in Dublin, and was arguably New Zealand’s best performance under coach Scott Robertson.
The win against the gives the All Blacks a perfect start to their Spring Tour following their 24-22 victory over England last week.
Ireland, who had won two matches in a row against the All Blacks in New Zealand in 2022, have now lost two-straight, including New Zealand’s 24-28 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal victory in 2023.
Ireland now host Argentina, Fiji and the Wallabies on consecutive weekends.