New Zealand claim statement win over top-ranked Ireland

New Zealand secured a statement victory for new coach Scott Robertson as Damian McKenzie helped kick them to a 23-13 success over world number one side Ireland and hand their rivals a first home defeat in 20 matches at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.

The All Blacks anticipated a backlash after dumping Ireland out of last year’s Rugby World Cup in an epic clash but Friday’s game failed to live up to the pre-match hype and a more cohesive New Zealand took control early on and shaded the first half 9-6.

The momentum looked to have turned Ireland’s way when a Josh van der Flier try put the back-to-back Six Nations champions in front early in the second half but McKenzie moved the visitors ahead again before a Will Jordan try put the game out of sight.

“I’m just really proud of the boys effort, particularly our forward pack, they really muscled up and our backs were able to build pressure. It’s never easy to win here so we’re very happy,” man of the match McKenzie said in a pitchside interview.

Ireland were bitterly disappointed with one of their poorest performances in years, particularly after so much focus before on avenging their most agonising World Cup quarter-final exit to date in a tournament they had high hopes of winning.

“We feel that’s not us, part of that is because of their quality. Discipline is definitely one obvious thing. We need to be better next week,” said Caelan Doris after his first game as Ireland captain since taking over full time from Peter O’Mahony.

The Irish started on the front foot, an Andrew Porter block down on Cortez Ratima within the first two minutes setting the tone for Jack Crowley to kick them into the lead after New Zealand fell foul of new laws around kicks in open play.

The contrasting style of Ireland’s precise phase-play attack against New Zealand’s ability to create something out of nothing was evident when Ratima found a gap and his searing break resulted in McKenzie levelling at 3-3.

The temperature went up a notch minutes later when players from both sides had to be separated as the camera panned with perfect Hollywood timing to “Gladiator 2” star and Irishman Paul Mescal in the crowd enjoying the scuffle.