New Zealand claimed an announcement victory for brand spanking new coach Scott Robertson as Damian McKenzie helped kick them to a 23-13 success over world primary facet Eire and hand their rivals a primary dwelling defeat in 20 matches on the Aviva Stadium on Friday.
The All Blacks anticipated a backlash after dumping Eire out of final yr’s Rugby World Cup in an epic quarter-final conflict however Friday’s recreation did not dwell as much as the pre-match hype in a primary half {that a} extra cohesive New Zealand shaded 9-6.
The momentum seemed to have turned when a Josh van der Flier strive put the back-to-back Six Nations champions in entrance early within the second half however McKenzie moved the guests forward once more earlier than a Will Jordan strive put the sport out of sight.
Eire will probably be bitterly upset with certainly one of their poorest performances in years, significantly after a lot concentrate on avenging their most agonising World Cup quarter-final exit to this point in a match that they had excessive hopes of profitable.
They began on the entrance foot on Friday, an Andrew Porter block down on Cortez Ratima inside the first two minutes setting the tone for Jack Crowley to kick them into the lead after New Zealand fell foul of recent legal guidelines round kicks in open play.
The contrasting type of Eire’s exact phase-play assault towards New Zealand’s skill to create one thing out of nothing was evident when Ratima discovered a niche and his searing break resulted in McKenzie levelling at 3-3.
The temperature went up a notch minutes later when gamers from either side needed to be separated because the digital camera panned with good Hollywood timing to “Gladiator 2” star and Irishman Paul Mescal within the crowd having fun with the scuffle.
Nevertheless it was cagey cat-and-mouse stuff as soon as the motion resumed with Eire making little affect in assault for lengthy intervals and having to depend on sharp defence to maintain All Black waves at bay.
Two extra McKenzie penalties and one for Crowley saved it tight at halftime and a yellow card simply earlier than the break for soon-to-be Leinster centre Jordie Barrett allowed a unique Eire to emerge within the second half.
After driving the All Blacks over their line inside two minutes and pumping the group up with clenched fists, Eire struck off the ensuing scrum as flanker Van der Flier crossed over and Crowley made it 13-9.
Eire have been near hanging once more however continued to wrestle to manage the slippery ball and the guests restricted the sin bin harm with McKenzie making it a one-point recreation earlier than placing New Zealand in entrance once more on the hour.
McKenzie, again at flyhalf after Beauden Barrett was dominated out after struggling a concussion in final week’s slender 24-22 win over England at Twickenham, added his sixth profitable penalty from seven makes an attempt to stretch the benefit.
The hosts’ dealing with errors deepened as Jordan continued his document of scoring in every of his 5 checks towards Eire with the only of finishes to place the sport to mattress and make it 5 wins apiece within the final 10 conferences of this rising rivalry.