Autumn Series: Ireland 9 New Zealand 21

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Ireland (6) 9
PEN: Johnny Sexton, Paddy Jackson (2).
New Zealand (14) 21
TRY: Malakai Fekitoa (2), Beauden Barrett. CON: Beauden Barrett (3).

Just as there was extreme overreaction to Ireland’s historic win against New Zealand in Chicago, so has there been an equal amount of hysteria over this defeat at the Aviva Stadium. 

Dirty, cheating, b@$tards appears to be the predominant complaint from the “big match eventers” and with New Zealand conceding fourteen penalties to Ireland’s four and having two players yellow carded, and two subsequent citings,  to Ireland’s none there appears to be some cause for complaint! 

Now, New Zealand have always “played the game on the edge of the laws”, in the time honoured sports parlance of their apologists or, put another way, they have been the world’s number one institutionalised cheats in the eyes of their detractors; but I’d guess, deep down, that even they have a grudging respect for their unfailing ability to do what needs to be done, by fair . . .

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