All Blacks v Ireland

A win is a win is a win, they say. It’s the nature of the win says I.

OK, enough of clever dick literary stuff, but that was a really satisfying result on so many levels. We beat the Irish, the newbies showed they can mix it at this level, the tyros who debuted in the last couple of years showed they’re matured, and the discipline improved all over the park. Ireland may have been poor and rusty last nite, but I don’t think the win is as significant as the nature of the win.

The big story for me was the ability to tough out periods of pressure and for individual players to produce moments of magic at precisely the right time. The focus and discipline we had in the KO stages of RWC2023 and which has gone walkabout since was very much on display. After Jordie’s YC and VdF’s try I thought we’d go back to the dross we’ve had for much of this year. Not a bit of it. The highlight may have been Ardie winning a penalty at the breakdown with Ireland camped in our 22, but there was also Ofa winning a penalty at precisely the right time to take the lead after an extended period of Irish dominance.

The way the forwards changed tactics to negate the Irish ruck disruption was also good to see. A couple of times I saw Cane or Ardie and Sititi in deep discussion, after the Irish had won a ruck, rather than any “WTF?” rolling eyes moments. Really mature and calm attitude on display

As an aside, I don’t blame Ratima entirely for have a bit of a ‘mare - playing against that Irish pack using those tactics and with Berry reffing would have challenged anyone. He’ll learn a lot from that game as Nugget did against England in 2012.

So much to like in that performance and not getting carried away but hope we can maintain that level of focus and discipline against France. If we do that there’s a good argument that we’re developing a team that combines the best mental aspects of last year with just the right mix of experience, solid grafters and raw talent.