Brian O'Driscoll in action as Sonny Bill Williams prepares to offload the ball

Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll lamented the chances he believes cost his side an opportunity of victory against all-conquering New Zealand.

"We played well for about 67 minutes but a 10 minute period before and after half-time cost us," said O'Driscoll.

"A team of their class is able to punish us for lapses and we were chasing the game after that.

"We take a lot of positives from the game as we played some really good rugby and are proud of our display."

"We had the best side in the world under the cosh for large periods and scored some great tries, although we were up against it at times too.

"The conditions were perfect for running rugby so we played with width and made fewer unforced errors than in our previous matches.

"The weather meant that we were able to play the brand of rugby that we had been practicing but we just gave them too much of a lead.

"Teams of their calibre don't give up that kind of lead but we have the consolation of playing some really good stuff," concluded the Irish captain.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney said his team's performance was "what we had been aiming for over the last couple of weeks".

"We are still a work in progress - we allowed New Zealand to turn the ball over too often and they capitalised well on their scores.

"We have benefitted from being together for a number of weeks but need to work on our ball retention.

"It's a learning curve for a few of the lads but that's what you have to go through if you want to reach where you want to be."

Highlights - Ireland 18-38 New Zealand

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