All Blacks run over 14-man Ireland
Daniel Carter became the first New Zealand player to surpass 1 000 Test points in a 66-28 thrashing of 14-man Ireland in New Plymouth on Saturday.
Carter slotted 17 points on seven conversions and a penalty to move to 1 011 points as the All Blacks took advantage of Irish number eight Jamie Heaslip’s sending off in the 16th minute for kneeing an All Black player in the head.
Ireland have never beaten New Zealand since they began playing each other in 1905 and any hopes of a victory in their 23rd Test evaporated after Heaslip’s rush of blood.
The game effectively ended as a contest nine minutes later when flyhalf Ronan O’Gara was sin-binned for a late tackle.
The home side scored three converted tries, two to scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan and one to prop Ben Franks, in the 10 minutes Ireland were down to 13 men.
This after they had galloped to a 17-0 lead courtesy of a Carter penalty and early tries to centre Conrad Smith and number eight Kieran Read.
Carter’s conversion of Read’s try took him past 1 000 Test points, joining an elite group comprising of England’s Jonny Wilkinson (1 175), Welshman Neil Jenkins (1 090) and Italy’s Diego Dominguez (1 010).
The flyhalf ended with 17 points, from seven conversions and a penalty, before he was replaced early in the second half by debutant Aaron Cruden.
Ireland replacement lock Dan Tuohy scored a try, with his first touch of the ball, bursting through a ruck and running 25 metres untouched. O’Gara converted to make it 38-7 at halftime.
The All Blacks’ who counter-attacked from depth at every opportunity, continued in the same vein in the second half with Smith completing a sweeping 70 metre move for his second try.
Debutant replacement lock Sam Whitelock scored with his first touch, less than a minute after coming on.
Ireland then controlled the ball and patiently built several phases in the second half and were rewarded with tries to captain Brian O’Driscoll winger Tommy Bowe while centre Gordon D’Arcy also added a try for the visitors.
Replacement prop Neemia Tialata also scored for the All Blacks before Whitelock added his second try late in the game.
[Reuters]
Related Posts
« Springboks too strong for France in Cape Town Australia victorious over England in Perth »
