As the All Blacks extended their long unbeaten run at Eden Park to 53 matches with a 40-21 victory over Ireland, it was the continuation of a newer trend that will be of concern to Andy Farrell.
Ireland’s largest reverse in four years, the 19-point defeat means Farrell’s side have lost their past six contests against New Zealand, France and South Africa by double-digit margins.
Since the retirement of Johnny Sexton after the 2023 World Cup, Ireland have won just two such games, against a 14-man France to start the 2024 Six Nations and against the Springboks in Durban thanks to Ciaran Frawley’s last-gasp drop goal later that same year.
While their record against all other opposition remains stellar, and there have been notable highs such as March’s thumping win over England in Twickenham, the 2025-26 campaign came to a close on Saturday morning with the feeling that the gap to the world’s very best continues to widen.
- Nations Championship: Dominant New Zealand beat Ireland – reaction
- All Blacks punish Ireland in dominant Eden Park win
Ireland’s three-game Nations Championship block in many ways felt like their past two years in microcosm.
Against Australia and Japan across the first two rounds, they were strong enough to overcome shortcomings at the set-piece and an occasional lack of attacking fluidity to still bank a pair of bonus-point wins.
When asked to make the step up to face New Zealand in their Auckland fortress, however, such struggles were punished ruthlessly.
There was a direct throughline from James Ryan’s spilled ball to the All Blacks’ first score through Patrick Tuipulotu.
Then, despite working their way back to 14-7 down thanks to a Jack Conan try eight minutes before the turn, they headed to the sheds 28-7 in arrears with New Zealand’s fourth score the product of at least two Ireland backs appearing to be playing to a different call off a scrum.
Ireland chased in vain for at least the consolation of losing and try bonus points in the second half and there was no lack of fight in the performance.
Against the very best in the game however, Test matches will not be won with such first-half lapses. The drop in accuracy from their 2022-23 peak continues to have a damaging impact on results.
“Inaccurate is the word,” said Farrell. “Continuity, it just wasn’t flowing for a number of reasons: spilled ball, throwing the ball into touch, etc.
“The character and fight is there for all to see, hence the comeback against Australia, but you can’t make that many errors against New Zealand”
Speaking on Radio Ulster, former Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray echoed Farrell’s belief that such volume of mistakes cannot be overcome against opposition like the All Blacks.
“It’s always refreshing when Andy Farrell speaks,” he said.
“He doesn’t try to hide or mask anything, and his initial reaction comes from the heart, which is always nice to hear.
“You get punished almost immediately by the All Blacks for errors you might survive against other teams.”
Long season ends in deflating fashion
After Ireland were bulk suppliers to the British and Irish Lions victorious effort in Australia last summer, this was always set to be a long season for plenty of Farrell’s squad.
Both in Auckland and across the year as a whole, the head coach can point to degrees of mitigation.
Ireland travelled to the southern hemisphere without their captain Caelan Doris after the number eight sustained an injury in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship final win over the Bulls on the eve of departure.
Wing James Lowe’s controversial departure from the province denied Farrell another long-serving stalwart, while Jack Crowley’s injury continued the sense of upheaval at the key fly-half position.
Andrew Porter, the side’s vital loose-head prop, has not played Test rugby since November, nor have his primary understudies Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle.
In a year so beset by injuries, Ireland have still won a Triple Crown, were mere moments away from a Six Nations title and won a pair of Tests in the southern hemisphere.
Farrell also gave eight players their international debut through the season, including four against Japan this month, as he builds towards next year’s World Cup.
The tournament in Australia was quickly brought up by stand-in skipper Dan Sheehan in his post-match interviews with this result again showing the improvements Ireland must make if they are to finally make their mark on the global showpiece in 15 months’ time.
“I’m proud of the boys, I’m proud of the season we had,” said the hooker.
“We really targeted this game, but we’ll learn the lessons and we’ll go into next season firing. We know where we are now and we know the work we have to do. It’s going to be a big year coming up in the lead up to the World Cup.
“We need to hit the ground running next year and we need to keep getting better.”
