Why former All Black ‘wasn’t surprised’ to see New Zealand beat Ireland

Going into the Rugby World Cup, the “expectation” of the All Blacks was at an all-time low. Even fans in New Zealand, who usually expect excellence, tipped the team to struggle against the likes of Ireland.

But the All Blacks defied the odds and underdog status to overcome the Irish in last weekend’s thrilling quarter-final showdown at Stade de France. It came down to the wire but the New Zealanders emerged victorious.

In a moment that will live on in rugby history forever, 151-Test veteran Sam Whitelock won a penalty at the breakdown after 37 phases of Irish attack. New Zealand fans celebrated in a state of relief while the Irish were left to rue their missed opportunities in the 28-24 defeat.

Ahead of Friday’s semi-final blockbuster against southern hemisphere rivals Argentina, former All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall has reflected on one of New Zealand’s best performances “in a very long time.”

“I wasn’t surprised because… New Zealand’s got a performance in them but just haven’t seen it in a couple of years,” Marshall said on The Platform.

“When it’s come down to big crunch games we haven’t delivered. We did deliver at Ellis Park after being well beaten the week before… that was probably one of the best performances that the All Blacks have put together in the two years.

“Still, it didn’t match the type of performance that was needed to beat a team like Ireland and they certainly did produce that (in the quarter-final). So no I wasn’t surprised but I did lack a little bit of confidence.

“I was concerned that the preparation probably wasn’t where it needed to be in terms of facing a team with a bit of resistance, figuring our way out of trouble, getting a bit of physicality that we really needed not breaking tackle easily like we had been in the three games after the French game.

“Somewhere, somehow mentally they got themselves into the right space; a performance that we’ve all known has been there for the All Blacks was finally produced.

“Regardless of the fact that we won or lost the game, you still would have been proud of their performance because they got stuck in, they were ruthless, they hardly made an error, they played at tempo, they played with physicality and they were more accurate than we’ve seen them in a very long time.”

The All Blacks’ rivalry against the Irish reached new heights at the Parisian stadium last weekend. Ireland claimed a historic series win in New Zealand last year and rightly charged into the World Cup as one of the tournament favourites.

But Ireland’s quarter-final curse continued. They’ve failed to win all eight of their World Cup clashes at this stage in tournament history. It was a sad end to Johnny Sexton’s rugby career, but the All Blacks deserved the win.

“We had to make 276 tackles last night and 100 of those were in the last quarter, and particularly in that last 37 phases. You know, the most we’ve had to make in this tournament, or attempt to make was 137 against Italy,” assistant coach Scott McLeod said on Sunday.

“So, there’s a huge amount of care and a huge amount of ticker I guess, Kiwi ticker in you like, that we wanted to get the job done. I am really proud of our execution in that zone but also our decision-making.

“The ball wasn’t there to take a number of times and we had to wait for the moment and then execute really well. You know, Sam Whitelock put himself in the position twice to do that and so did Ardie [Savea] and we finally got it.

“We finally got it after that 37th phase and the boys are really happy with that.”