 | MATCH SUMMARY Ireland (0) 7 Try: Horan Con: Humphreys New Zealand (25) 45 Tries: Sivivatu (2), Weepu, Howlett (2) Cons: Evans (4) Pens: Evans (4) |
New Zealand's grand slam ambitions stayed on course as they outclassed Ireland in Saturday's international at Lansdowne Road. Two tries from Sitiveni Sivivatu and a Piri Weepu touchdown left the All Blacks 25-0 ahead at the break with Nick Evans adding the other points.
New Zealand continued their domination after the break with Doug Howlett adding two more tries.
Marcus Horan notched a late try but it was little consolation for the Irish.
Ireland made a predictably lively start with Tommy Bowe stretching his legs in the New Zealand half but the visitors quickly established control despite parading an entirely different starting line-up from the win over Wales.
Sivivatu notched the opening try in the 10th minute after ghosting in from the wing to take a clever pass from Piri Weepu after the All Blacks had forced a scrum deep in Ireland's '22.
From an Irish perspective, it was a soft try and Evans was able to add the conversion from in front of the posts.
New Zealand continued to dominate and the second try followed in the 22nd minute with scrum-half Weepu finishing off another glorious sweeping move after great work by Ma'a Nonu and Richie McCaw.
Evans missed the conversion but it was of little consolation to an Irish side already in big trouble.
More pressure forced another New Zealand penalty in front of the Irish posts in the 27th minute and Evans, on this occasion, made no mistake to extend the advantage to 15-0.
 John Afoa tries to grab possession ahead of Malcolm O'Kelly |
Ireland produced a rare attack of their own five minutes later thanks to a Gordon D'Arcy burst but Geordan Murphy spilled the centre's less than accurate pass.
New Zealand responded in typical fashion by forcing another penalty deep in Irish territory and Evans knocked over the easy kick to increase the lead to 18-0.
Ireland tried to rally before half-time and first Denis Leamy and then Malcolm O'Kelly charged for the New Zealand line only to be denied by solid defence.
To rub salt into Irish wounds, the All Blacks turned defence into attack again in seconds with Sivivatu scoring under the posts for the second time with not an Irish defender in sight.
Evans' conversion completed the first-half exhibition as New Zealand trooped off leading 25-0.
It was more of the same immediately after the break with Evans adding two quick penalties after Doug Howlett had been close to notching a fourth All Black try.
Ma'a Nonu then blotted the New Zealand copybook by producing a dreadful tackle on D'Arcy which brought back memories of the All Black challenge which ended Brian O'Driscoll's Lions tour in the summer.
Referee Jonathan Kaplan surprisingly adjudged that Nonu's tackle didn't warrant a yellow card, much to the annoyance of the home supporters.
In response, the Irish produced their best attack of the match but the chance was lost when O'Gara was caught in possession after failing to utilise a five-on-three overlap.
Howlett and Nonu were denied in close calls by the video referee before Howlett did notch New Zealand's fourth try with the Irish defence again easily breached.
Horan scored Ireland's try deep into injury-time which prevented the indignity of the home side failing to register a score.
Ireland: Murphy; Bowe, D'Arcy, Horgan, Horgan; O'Gara, Stringer; Horan, Byrne, Hayes; O'Callaghan, O'Kelly; Easterby (capt), O'Connor, Leamy.
Replacements: R Best for Byrne (76), S Best for Hayes (61), McCullough for O'Kelly (61), N Best for Easterby (71), Humphreys for O'Gara (71), Dempsey for Murphy (76).
Not used: Campbell.
New Zealand: MacDonald; Howlett, Nonu, Mauger, Sivivatu; Evans, Weepu; Woodcock, Mealamu, Afoa; Eaton, Williams; Lauaki, McCaw, Tuiali'i.
Replacements: Cowan for Weepu (61), Taumoepeau for Woodcock (61), Hore for Mealamu (61), So'oialo for McCaw (72).
Not used: Hayman, Jack, Muliaina.
Att: 42,000
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).