Back to drawing board for Ireland
Outclassed Ireland were Sunday licking their wounds and trying to work out how to compete against an All Blacks side who said they had under-performed despite a thumping 42-10 win.
The World Cup champions scored five tries to one but coach Steve Hansen felt they could have passed 50 points on Saturday had they not blown a couple of scoring chances, saying there was work to do.
After their first outing since winning the World Cup on home soil last year, All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw also faulted the effort of his forwards at the breakdown.
Despite New Zealand's downbeat assessment of their own performance, Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll conceded his side had struggled to cope with the intensity shown by the world champions.
And with two Tests left in the series, O'Driscoll held out hope his side could yet end a 107-year drought and produce Ireland's first win over the All Blacks.
"We'll go away and look at the video and try and see where we can go better next week," he said.
"That's the beauty of a three-Test series, that we've got two more cracks at it to get our game right. I'm a glass half-full kinda guy."
However, McCaw warned if the All Blacks improved at the breakdown they would be even more formidable.
"The Irish put a lot of heat on at the breakdown. They're good at it and in the first half we didn't quite deal with it as well as we could have," he said.
"I think that's probably one area we need to look at. If we get that right and get good quick ball, especially off first phase, we can put more pressure on.
"I'm happy enough but I won't get too carried away because it wasn't perfect by any stretch."
Hansen said his forwards "did a lot of ball-watching rather than identifying people to remove" at the breakdown.
O'Driscoll was left bemused by the All Blacks' self-criticism after such a thumping win.
"The intensity they brought was something that at times we struggled with in getting numbers around the corner because of the speed of their ruck ball," he said.
"So we definitely have to look at that, and the ability to be able to stick in the tackle a little bit more and do something at the breakdown."
Ireland had the better of the opening 20 minutes, playing with pace and width but when All Blacks debutant Julian Savea scored the first of his three tries the sting faded from Ireland and the All Blacks intensified their attack.
They led 23-3 at half-time and added another 19 points after the break while Ireland were restricted to a first-half penalty and a breakout converted try to Fergus McFadden in the second.
Ireland's significant problem and the All Blacks' key strength was the use of turnover ball.
"They're definitely one of the best teams in the world at turnover football and they made us pay a couple of times," said O'Driscoll.
"They bring a really good intensity to it and a great tempo to things. They try and keep the ball in play as much as they possibly can and back themselves. We've got to play smart and play to our strengths as well."
AFP
