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Tadhg Beirne was shown a contentious early red card as Ireland’s quest to create more special memories in Chicago ended in an emphatic 26-13 loss against New Zealand. Almost nine years to the day since Ireland’s milestone first victory in the fixture, the All Blacks gained revenge at Soldier Field thanks to tries from Ardie Savea, Tamaiti Williams, Wallace Sititi and Cam Roigard.
Ireland initially overcame the controversial third-minute dismissal of Beirne for a high tackle on Beauden Barrett, who landed three conversions, to lead through a Tadhg Furlong score and eight points from Jack Crowley. But the All Blacks underlined their class in the second half to cruise to victory deservedly.
The back-row Savea, who came off the bench in the 2016 loss, said: “That was nine years ago, but it is nice to come here and rectify that. We’ll enjoy tonight and celebrate the win.”
Talk of Ireland’s landmark 40-29 success fuelled the buildup to a sold-out showdown. Irish hopes of repeating that result suffered a swift setback when the lock Beirne was sent to the sin-bin for an upright challenge on Barrett, pending a review. New Zealand were also dealt an early blow, with Scott Barrett, their captain, limping off.
The fly-half Crowley scored a penalty to give Andy Farrell’s side the lead in the stop-start opening before Beirne’s punishment was upgraded to a 20-minute red card by the French referee Pierre Brousset. In spite of Ireland’s temporary numerical disadvantage, the prop Furlong – one of four members of the 2016 team in Ireland’s matchday squad – powered over for the opening try in the 16th minute, only for the All Blacks to hit back quickly through a superb score from Savea after losing the centre Jordie Barrett to a knee injury.
Ireland v New Zealand has developed into a genuine rivalry in recent years, with each side beginning the day with five wins apiece from the past 10 meetings, including the previous clash in the United States. After a big buildup, this encounter was more scrappy than scintillating, not helped by frequent stoppages, which often quelled the capacity crowd.
Iain Henderson eventually replaced Beirne before Caelan Doris made his first appearance since suffering a shoulder injury in May after James Ryan was temporarily forced off for a head injury assessment. Ireland carried a 10-7 lead into the break, which Crowley increased by three points by slotting over a straightforward penalty after missing an earlier attempt.
New Zealand had been well below their free-flowing best but led for the first time in the 63rd minute when Jordie Barrett added the extras after the replacement prop Williams bulldozed over. Scott Robertson’s team quickly added a third try to take control of the contest. Barrett brilliantly held his pass for the charging Damian McKenzie, who raced into Ireland’s 22 and popped the ball to Sititi to claim his first Test try, with the successful conversion making it 21-13.
The scrum-half Roigard wriggled over to extinguish any prospect of an Ireland fightback as Farrell’s first match leading Ireland since his sabbatical with the British & Irish Lions ended in defeat before Dublin appointments with Japan, Australia and South Africa.
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Ireland’s captain, Dan Sheehan, told TNT Sports: “It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I don’t think we ever really got going. We saw very small patches of what we were looking for but we couldn’t really put the whole picture together.”
He continued: “I thought we were operating about 80% going into that half-time period. We looked to get a bit extra going into that second half. At times we did but there was a lot of inaccuracies at the breakdown and with discipline, so there’s a lot to work on.
“We thought we were in a good spot, but things didn’t click for us today and we’ll have to have an honest review of that. Hopefully we can bounce back next week and turn it around.”
