Tadhg Furlong scores a try for Ireland during the game against New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho
Ireland 13 New Zealand 26
History repeated itself all right, only not of the kind made nine years ago. Instead this was a near replica of the scoreline from a year ago when the All Blacks becalmed Ireland in a subdued Aviva with a 23-13 win, although this time they had to dig deeper and pull clear with three unanswered tries in the final quarter.
Ireland took the game to the All Blacks, but ultimately ran out of punching power and energy, letting their opponents off the hook in the second and especially third quarters with too many simple ‘outs’. Like Ireland, Jack Crowley did many things well, not least in his passing game, but in his game management he forced his hand a little.
It didn’t help that the lineout malfunctioned from the off, albeit some of Ireland’s defensive lineout was excellent, with Ryan Baird supplementing perhaps his best international performance with his work rate and carrying.
Stuart McCloskey also justified his selection and there were other big games from Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lo
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