For the first time in its history, Ireland won in New Zealand, with a score of 12-23. Last week, the Blacks had however beaten these same Irishmen by 23 points.
What a feat of the XV of Clover! For the first time in fourteen confrontations in New Zealand (the first took place in 1976), Ireland went to win on the All Blacks field this Saturday! In Dunedin, the Greens won 12-23 and therefore return to 1-1 in the Tour which opposes them to the Blacks, and which will end next Saturday. Beaten 42-19 last week in Auckland, the Irish took a formidable revenge, and inflicted on the New Zealanders a third defeat in their last seven meetings, all competitions combined (South Africa and France also beat them) .
Blacks reduced to 14
From the 3rd minute, Ireland put pressure on their opponent, scoring a try by Andrew Porter, in power near the left post after a long playing time (0-7). Picked cold under a temperature of 8°c, the Blacks did not manage to react quickly, on the contrary! They suffered a disastrous second quarter of an hour of the match, receiving two yellow cards and a red card. First it was Leicester Fainga’anuku who came out ten minutes for a shoulder shot in the 17th minute, then Ofa Tu’ungafasi joined him on the bench eight minutes later for a tackle without the ball, and in the 31st, Augus Ta’avao definitely joined the locker room for a whim on Garry Ringrose! Despite everything, the Blacks did not concede points during this difficult period, and it was even they who ended up scoring a try just before the siren, by Beauden Barrett on the eleventh game time for New Zealand, while the two teams were at 14 against 14 following the card received by James Ryan for an offside (7-10, mt).
The double for Porter
In the second half, it was still Ireland who started best, still at 14 against 14, and it was again Andrew Porter who scored under the posts, after some close play (7-17). Jonathan Sexton then scored two penalties to widen the gap (7-23, 67th) before going out injured. And after a long push, New Zealand ended up scoring through Will Jordan at the end of the line-up in the right corner (12-23), but then there were only three minutes left to play, and Ireland did not didn’t shake. The XV of Clover therefore offers a prestigious victory. To be confirmed next Saturday!
