New Zealand hold off Ireland in titanic battle to reach World Cup semi-finals

The agony goes on. Ireland must wonder what they have to do to break this quarter-final curse, how long to spend as No 1 in the world, how many grand slams to win, how many victories in a row. Let the record state: eight quarter-finals, eight defeats.

And for the All Blacks now: nine quarter-finals, eight wins. How New Zealand have suffered themselves of late, toppled for some time from their perch as the perennial champions of everything oval. This may not mean a return to the top for them, but that familiar precision, that doggedness in defence, that nose for victory has been regained.

After their sobering defeat by France in the opening match, New Zealand had encountered little in the way of resistance in the rest of their pool matches. And they have duly found their stride with a series of exhibitions. Here, in the unfamiliar position of underdogs in a quarter-final, they maintained the precision we know so well. It was Ireland who looked rushed.

That record of theirs in quarter-finals might have been playing on their minds, but after the precision of their own exhibition against as strong a team as Scotland in the last round of pool matches, Ireland were strangely loose.

Lineouts went astray, passes to ground. Do that against the All Blacks and expect to find yourself 13-0 down in no time. So it was. Two penalties, one for Richie Mo’unga and another from halfway by Jordie Barrett, put New Zealand into an early lead. Then the brilliance.

Another of the Barrett brothers, Beauden, sparked it with a brilliant chip into space, which he gathered. With lightning speed the ball was whisked left to Leicester Fainga’anuku, who found Rieko Ioane. The latter’s return ball inside was so fast and dextrous, even Fainga’anuku must have been surprised to receive it, but he responded to take the ball over.

So New Zealand had the same early lead, 13-0, as they had held in that legendary defeat of theirs in a quarter-final, when France recovered to send them crashing out in Cardiff, 2007. We all know who the referee was then, too.

Wayne Barnes was certainly favouring the All Blacks in the early exchanges here, but that started to change as Ireland responded with the confidence they have nurtured up there at the top of the world rankings. Johnny Sexton landed a penalty, straight from the restart. Six minutes later, he was converting their first try.

Mack Hansen, a handful throughout, exchanged passes down the left with Dan Sheehan, before long passes by Sexton and James Lowe found Bundee Aki, who stepped and smashed his way through five defenders to the line. Ship righted perhaps.

Alas, Ireland missed another lineout a few minutes before the half-time break, and another deadly kick, this a 50-22 by Will Jordan, set the All Blacks up for the second, when Ardie Savea was worked over in the corner. But Ireland had time to respond before the break.

Aaron Smith’s deliberate knockdown of Hansen’s inside ball earned him a spell in the sin-bin. Ireland went for the corner twice, and Jamison Gibson-Park nipped over round the side of a driven lineout to pull Ireland back to 18-17 at the break.

The third quarter was all Ireland. And they emerged from it only further behind. All it takes is one mistake, or one flash of magic, either side can argue which it was. Ireland had sent their customary waves of attack at New Zealand, but Savea stymied the latest to win a penalty over the ball. One neat lineout, one show-and-go by Mo’unga, one huge gap for him to run through. Ireland will not forgive themselves for allowing it off a set piece. Mo’unga was away, and he sent Jordan to the corner.

The Irish must have been despairing then, but they kept coming. Finally it told, when they pulled back to within one a few minutes into the final quarter. Ireland won a penalty, which Sexton sent to the corner. Codie Taylor pulled down the driven lineout – penalty try and a yellow card.

Barnes was favouring New Zealand again, particularly at the scrum, where he found for the All Blacks three times to nil. Jordie Barrett missed one such penalty, but he was on target moments later to open up a four-point lead as the clock ticked into the last 10.

Ireland pressed again. Another penalty won, another sent to the corner. The usual routine was enacted, this time against a seven-man pack. Somehow Jordie Barrett infiltrated his way underneath the advancing pack. New Zealand’s line held once again.

Only a try could win it now. Ireland began one last siege, phase after phase, deep into the red minutes, advancing relentlessly into the 22, the crowd almost murmuring with suspense. One last thrust, one last All Black, the veteran Sam Whitelock, over the ball. Irish dream over. All Black supremacy restored.