The All Blacks ended Ireland's winning streak as well as their dreams to qualify for their first semi-final at the Rugby World Cup ever with a patient 28-24 win.
The All Blacks were patient in the attack during the opening minutes of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Richie Mo'unga converted a penalty after 7 minutes of play in the first half. Jordie Barrett added a long-distance converted penalty to extend the All Blacks lead to 06-00 after 14 minutes of play.
The All Blacks are building their dominance on the ground, creating several turnovers or earning valuable penalties. After 19 minutes of play, Leicester Fainga'anuku scored the All Blacks' first try in the corner. Brilliant work by Beauden Barrett on counter attack set up the try of Fainga'anuku with several All Blacks handling the ball.
Three minutes later Johnny Sexton converted a penalty to open Ireland's account on the scoreboard.
Ireland got their hands more often on quality attacking ball until Bundee Aki danced and then thundered his way over the All Blacks' tryline to cut the All Blacks' lead to 13-10.
Ardie Savea scored in the corner for the All Blacks which extended their lead to 18-10 with six minutes still to play in the first half.
The All Blacks' Aaron Smith was shown a yellow card which ultimately resulted in Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park sniping next to the maul to score Ireland's second try to trial 17-18 which was also the halftime score.
Will Jordan scored in the corner for the All Blacks, outsprinting several Ireland defenders to extend the All Blacks lead to 25-17.
A penalty try was awarded to Ireland following an illegal sack of a 5-meter lineout by Codie Taylor who was also shown a yellow card. The All Blacks led 25-24 with 16 minutes still of which 10 minutes will be without Codie Taylor.
With 10 minutes still to play Jordie Barrett converted his second penalty of the match for the All Blacks to extend their lead 28-24, which was also the final score of the match.
Scorers:
All Blacks: Tries: Leicester Fainga'anuku, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan. Conversions: Richie Mo'unga, Jordie Barrett. Penalties: Richie Mo'unga, Jordie Barrett.
Ireland: Tries: Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, penalty try. Conversions: Johnny Sexton (2). Penalty: Johnny Sexton.
Teams:
Ireland: 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Iain Henderson, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 11 James Lowe, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Garry Ringrose, 14 Mack Hansen, 15 Hugo Keenan. Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Jimmy O’Brien.
All Blacks: 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Scott Barrett, 6 Shannon Frizell, 7 Sam Cane (c), 8 Ardie Savea, 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 11 Leicester Fainga'anuku, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Will Jordan, 15 Beauden Barrett. Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Dalton Papali'i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
