New Zealand, the great tyrant of rugby, the fireworks team, earned its ticket to the World Cup semifinals this Saturday in Paris with its most efficient version. Order and counterattack to knock down the number one of the team ranking, an Ireland that fell (24-28) after 17 consecutive victories – since June 2022 – and prolongs its curse of the quarterfinals, a round in which it has fallen all eight times it has played. The three-time champion, in its most precarious time in the last decade, is still very much alive and will fight next Friday with Argentina for a place in the final.
Ireland came out at a thousand revolutions and suffered the first penalty blow after just 22 seconds due to their impatience in the ruck, discussing possession from the ground. The rush of the favorite, a difficult suit to wear when there are 15 black t-shirts in front of you. The All Blacks were less ambitious and limited themselves to chaining sequences, an eternity (29) until the defense conceded the penalty shot. Unceremoniously, they exchanged it between the sticks and opened the scoring. Jordan Barrett would repeat with a kick from midfield. The bleeding of green fouls – up to five in a quarter of an hour – cost points.
The rush of the Irish continued, as they refused to kick between the sticks and unsuccessfully sought a try in their first foray. He defended himself in New Zealand’s field, waiting for the error, the charge of the smaller player, to steal the oval and move it away with a kick from Ardie Savea. The forwards, the fat ones, don’t kick, but he is good for everything and launched the counterattack of the first try. Beauden Barrett broke down the middle with a perfect hat kick. Lowe tackled him forcefully, but his defense arrived late and the All Blacks took the oval to the left flank to take advantage of their superiority. Fainga’anuku arrived there to complete a wall with Ioane and silence the green hats.
Defense without faults
A 0-13 in 20 minutes was a major mental test for the lovable loser. New Zealand eased the task on serve, blocking Lowe and allowing Sexton to clear the score at zero. Paradoxically, the deficit relaxed the Irish, who took on the task and stopped their cascade of losses. Theirs was the territory, it was a matter of time before the gaps appeared. And Bundee Aki’s mark arrived, without rushing, advancing with short steps while the defenders threw themselves at him in vain.
The script that Ireland wanted was already in motion, a recipe that had an antidote: counterattacks. With hardly any effort, the All Blacks planted themselves in the rival rearguard with a 50:22 kick – a delivery from their own field that leaves the opponent’s 22 zone after a bounce and that allows the kicker to maintain possession – for a sequence that the all-rounder Savea posed on the right flank. Another blow to which the Clover With the platform formed, the small Gibson-Park surprised and launched the test against his native country minutes after having lost the oval in a similar action. Gestures of tenacity.
The deficit at halftime (17-18) was a victory for Ireland, although the time in the locker room slowed down the frenzy. The greens were still in the rival field, but New Zealand defended without faults until their rivals thwarted the attack. Crouching, they waited for their moment. And one detail was enough, the missed tackle by a titan like Van der Flier, for Richie Mo’unga to open the floodgates. Seconds later, sprinter Will Jordan was running unopposed toward the tryout. Another mountain for Ireland.
Last Endless Attack
The clock was ticking and Sexton missed an easy kick to shrink an eight-point gap to a single score. Bad symptom. The physical wear and tear sharpened the green dominance, but his rival maintained the lines, without gifts. They had to resort to his wild card, the maul, that platform they formed after putting the ball into play from the wing, which opened the cell. He not only got the try, but also the yellow card for Codie Taylor for illegally bringing him down. Ten minutes of numerical superiority with just over a quarter of an hour to play. And Ireland, one.
The epilogue demanded a psychologist. The Clover maul, but there was no rehearsal because Barrett himself avoided a sung pose by Kelleher. The All Blacks had won their inferiority and the Irish had five minutes to create the test of redemption. They tried with one last endless attack, 37 phases in search of the crack. Without a network, with time served, a fight against its history.
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