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Ireland vs. New Zealand: 6 Things We Learned
Published: November 24, 2013
Ireland suffered an agonising 24-22 defeat to New Zealand with the last kick of the game at the Aviva Stadium.
An injury-time try from replacement Ryan Crotty drew the All Blacks level, and Aaron Cruden secured their 14th win from 14 matches in 2013 with the conversion.
After capitulating so heavily against Australia last week, this was a transformed Ireland team that raced into a 19-0 lead inside 20 minutes.
But, the fact they are still searching for their first win over the All Blacks after such a strong start—and still leading into injury time—will be a wound that will take some time to heal.
For the All Blacks, they are the first side in the professional era to win every match in a calendar year.
But, they were made to work for it.
Here’s what we learned.
1. Possession equals points
Ireland’s 57 percent possession in the first half reflected their halftime lead of 22-7, but in the second half, they had just 38 percent of the ball.
At Test level, that’s an awful lot of defending to do against the best attacking outfit on the planet. And still, it took New Zealand until the 82nd minute to take the lead for the first time.
What a shame it is for Ireland that they couldn’t keep the ball at the death.
We have seen Munster expertly run down a clock so many times with a tight pick-and-go strategy, but on this occasion, they fell just a minute short of doing the same and paid dearly for it.
2. New Zealanders never say die
Twenty-four hours before the All Blacks completed their perfect year in Dublin with a last gasp conversion, their rugby league counterparts were doing the same in London.
The Kiwis conjured a last minute try and conversion to beat England in the semifinal of the 13-man cod...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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