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“Cruel, agonising, sickening, earth-shattering, heartbreaking” – the Irish media seemed as stunned as the Irish players as they digested their team’s latest brave loss to the All Blacks in Dublin today.
A last-gasp try to replacement Ryan Crotty and a re-taken conversion by Aaron Cruden gave the All Blacks a dramatic 24-22 win.
That allowed New Zealand to complete the perfect year of 14 consecutive test wins and, more importantly to those in the land of Guinness and clover, continue their unbeaten record against the men in green.
“What can be said after that?” lamented rugby writer Carl O’Malley in the Irish Times.
“A chance of history snatched from Ireland’s grasp at the death by the seemingly unstoppable All Blacks winning machine.
“When they talk about sport being cruel these are the moments they are referring to – when maximum effort and energy is expended for absolutely no tangible reward.”
Like most watching this absorbing test, O’Malley was stunned by the way Ireland had transformed their sloppy form against the Wallabies a week ago to take the No 1-ranked All Blacks to the wire.
In fact, he wrote, it looked like the impossible was achievable because of the way the Irish tore into their work and forced the All Blacks into errors, particularly in the first half.
“Such occurrences happened enough times for everyone watching this to believe this would be the day the All Black hoodoo would finally be broken,” he wrote.
“Denis Hickie said earlier in the week that the only way to beat New Zealand was if every Irish player had a dream game.”
But O’Malley concluded that dream turned into a nightmare with Cruden’s fateful conversion, which was a second attempt allowed by Welsh referee Nigel Owens who had judged the Irish had moved off their line early to try to charge down the first attempt.
“Eventually, he slammed the final nail in the coffin. Utter ruin now but what a performance by some of Ireland’s finest men,” was how O’Malley signed off his piece.
Michael Scully, writing in the Irish Mirror, said: “Heartbroken Ireland were denied an earth-shattering triumph at the death as the All Blacks made history.”
He described the manner of the loss as “a sickening blow”.
“For Ireland, the long wait to beat the world’s number one side continues.”
In The Guardian, Robert Kitson wrote: “Ireland have endured some agonising near-misses against southern hemisphere opposition but none to match this narrow failure to secure a first win over New Zealand in 108 years of fixtures between the two countries.
“Until the final quarter a ferocious home effort had distinct echoes of England’s success over New Zealand a year ago, the world champions reserving their least-effective display until the last,” he wrote.
“Nothing, however, should be allowed to detract from the quality of Ireland’s performance, with Sean O’Brien, Paul O’Connell, Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray all outstanding.”
The BBC described Ireland’s loss as “an agonising conclusion”.
“But while the final outcome brought total heartbreak for the hosts, the world champions underlined that status as they became the first side in the professional era to win every test in a calendar year.”
– © Fairfax NZ News
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Article source: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/425539/Dylan-Hartley-grateful-for-final-England-chance
Media mourns "cruel, sickening" Ireland loss
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