CHICAGO (AP) — Tries in the last quarter by Tamaiti Williams, Wallace Sititi and Cam Roigard carried New Zealand to a 26-13 win Saturday over a combative Ireland in front of 65,000 mostly Irish fans at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
New Zealand struggled for much of the match against Ireland’s physical rush defense and disruptive play at set pieces and Ireland headed into the final quarter with a 13-7 lead.
The All Blacks opened up the Ireland defense twice in five minutes, in the 61st and 66th minutes, first with a try to Williams from a tapped penalty, then through Sititi after a deft combination between playmakers Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie.
Roigard then dashed through a gap from a dominant scrum to cap the win in the 76th minute.
The loss was a blow to Ireland who hoped to repeat their first win over New Zealand achieved at Soldier Field almost nine years ago to the day.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Ireland captain Dan Sheehan said. “I don’t think we ever really got going. We saw very small patches of what we were looking for but couldn’t really put the whole picture together.”
Ireland looked on course to win until the All Blacks, who had been diffident and disorganized in the first 60 minutes, finally found a way to unleash their attack. New Zealand’s win means their hope of a first Grand Slam of wins over the Home Unions since 2005 remains alive.
New Zealand will play Scotland, England and Wales over the next three weekends.
“That loss was nine years ago so it’s nice to come here and rectify that,” All Blacks captain Ardie Savea said.
All Blacks lose their skipper early
Both teams were disrupted in the first half. New Zealand lost captain Scott Barrett to a leg injury after only three minutes and Ireland lost lock Tadhg Beirne to a yellow card after accidental head contact with Beauden Barrett. New Zealand also lost midfielder Jordie Barrett to a first-half injury.
Ireland took an early 10-0 lead after a penalty by Jack Crowley and try by prop Tadhg Furlong. New Zealand replied with a try by Savea and trailed 10-7 at halftime.
The first half had drama but lacked flow with regular stoppages.
Beirne’s yellow card came in the 10th minute when his shoulder made contact with Barrett’s head in an awkward standing tackle. Ireland argued that the pass to Barrett was forward and that Beirne had not been able to adjust his upright position.
Jordie Barrett suffered a knee injury in the 12th minute, tried to play on but was replaced soon after by Leicester Fainga’anuku.
The All Blacks made little impact on Ireland’s rigid defense at first and had more success going around the edges. New Zealand’s defense was more yielding and Ireland made gains, notably with strong running from veteran midfield Stuart McCloskey.
Ireland took the lead in the seventh minute with a penalty by Crowley, then added the first try in the 17th minute through Furlong.
New Zealand replied almost immediately with a try by Savea. Fainga’anuku stepped out of Gary Ringrose’s tackle wide on the left hand side and offloaded to Will Jordan. From the ruck forwards Ethan de Groot, Josh Lord and Simon Parker combined to put Savea over in the right corner.
Crowley opened the second half scoring with a penalty in the 51st minute, making the led 13-10. At that point eight of the previous 10 penalties had gone against New Zealand for offending mostly at breakdowns.
Late rally denies Ireland
New Zealand seized the lead against the run of play with a try by Williams from a quick tapped penalty in the 61st minute.
Sititi scored five minutes later when Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie combined to create space for the big backrower to cross Ireland’s line untouched by the defense.
Roigard capped the win with a try from an increasingly dominant scrum.
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