Despite falling well short of their recent performances against the All Blacks, SENZ rugby expert Justin Marshall believes Ireland looked a settled side on Saturday evening.
Having won three of their last five matches against the former World Champions, the touring Irish set a precedent early in the match by scoring first on the right wing after 18 phases on attack.
While they were unable to carry their early momentum past the opening 20 minutes, Marshall believes the loss makes the side no less of a formidable opponent with two matches left in the series.
“They were (on fire), and in general, I think they probably are a side that know their game better than us at the moment,” Marshall said on SENZ’s The Bunnings Trade Rugby Run.
“There’s every reason for that. They've got an established side that have been through a lot over the last couple of years with not a great deal of changes.
“Now look at the All Blacks’ situation where they had what happened to them during the week, but also, you know, we’ve had a bit of changing of the guard; there’s a few new faces in there.
“You know, the Beauden Barrett Richie Mo’unga thing, the Will Jordan Jordie Barrett (situation) … do we shift guys to the wing … Anton Lienert Brown’s out of the mix, (Jack) Goodhue’s still not quite back from injury, (David) Havili’s ruled out, so you’ve got a new 12.
“We had a lot going on. A brand new six, Scott Barrett ... so Ireland were clearly going to have better rhythm than us, there's no doubt about it.
“Simply because they know their gameplan, they know a gameplan that can open the All Blacks up because they’ve done it successfully.
“To have a record of … in the last five Tests having beaten us three times (it’s unbelievable). That's quite a side that know themselves and know their pattern so I wasn’t surprised to see them dominate the first 20 minutes and do as well as what they did.”
The visitors’ dominant defence made the counterattack near impossible for the All Blacks in the opening 20 minutes, but Marshall felt that their “response” in the second quarter of the match set the home side up for their big victory.
“It was always going to be about the response … and I think around the 23rd minute, bang, they just clicked a switch,” Marshall continued.
“Yes they scored they scored the tries, but they won those areas that they were losing.
“Their line speed increased, they forced mistakes from the Irish and then secondly they turned over, I don’t know … three, four really crucial rucks.
“They all resulted in tries so they quite clearly got the message, so they did adapt. That was really good that they recognised it and they found their rhythm. It was always going to take a bit of time.”
The two sides will meet again on July 9 at Forsyth Barr Stadium as the tourists look to even the series to 1-1 to set up a series decider on July 16.
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