Nations Championship round three
New Zealand (28) 40
Tries: Tuipulotu, Savea, Jordan, Aumua, McKenzie, Lienert-Brown Cons: Love 5
Ireland (7) 21
Tries: Conan, McCarthy, Keenan Cons: Prendergast 3
Ruthless New Zealand scored six tries to overwhelm Ireland and preserve their 32-year unbeaten run at Eden Park in a largely one-sided Nations Championship contest.
Buoyed by victories over France and Italy, the All Blacks punished a litany of first-half Irish errors as Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Asafo Aumua all crossed to secure the bonus point.
Ireland’s solitary first-half score from Jack Conan came after Luke Jacobson was yellow carded for a dangerous clearout on Josh van der Flier, with the New Zealand flanker avoiding a red card following an off-field review.
Irish tries from Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan either side of the outstanding Damian McKenzie’s score boosted the visitors’ hopes of a losing and try bonus.
However, Anton Lienert-Brown’s late score wrapped up an emphatic win for the three-time world champions, who stretched their undefeated Eden Park sequence to 53 Tests.
Having beaten Australia and Japan in their first two games, Ireland will leave Auckland empty-handed after their fourth successive loss to New Zealand and must wait until November to atone for a sloppy first-half performance.
New Zealand, meanwhile, will approach next month’s four-Test series against South Africa with confidence after taking a maximum 15 points from their three home Nations Championship fixtures.
“Very proud of the men turning up here tonight and putting in a performance like that,” said New Zealand captain Ardie Savea.
“I think it’s all been in the mindset. We talked about throwing the first punch, and you know we got a lead in the first five minutes, so that was a start.
“You’ve got to give credit to the Irish, they’re real quality. But we’re stoked to get the win.”
