RUGBY
Sexton’s injury may open the door for Carbery against Australia
By Daire Walsh
They produced another big effort at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, but Ireland fell just short in their quest to replicate their groundbreaking victory over the All Blacks in Chicago a fortnight ago.
Steve Hansen’s world champions were eager to make amends for their first test defeat in all of 15 months at Soldier’s Field on November 5, and despite several stand-out performances from the home side, tries from Malakai Fekitoa, Beauden Barrett and Anton Lienert-Brown ultimately helped New Zealand to claim their 28th win from 30 games against the Irish.
Having made several alterations for their commanding success against Canada at the same venue, the starting line-up selected by Joe Schmidt had a closer resemblance to the one that featured in the opening test with the All Blacks in the Windy City.
The long-term injury sustained by Jordi Murphy in that game ruled him out of contention for this rematch, but even though Josh van der Flier delivered a typically accomplished display when introduced for this Leinster team-mate, Sean O’Brien’s impressive showing against Canada led to him getting the nod in the back-row alongside CJ Stander and Naas’ Jamie Heaslip.
The Kildare duo of James Tracy and Joey Carbery have made their international debuts during this Guinness Series, but with skipper Rory Best and his Ulster compatriot Paddy Jackson coming back into the frame, they weren’t included the match-day squad on this occasion.
Sexton’s early withdrawal with a hamstring injury may see Carbery coming back into the picture, however, and the Leinster fly-half was one of three players to depart the scenes in the first-quarter. Robbie Henshaw and Stander were replaced by Garry Ringrose and van der Flier respectively, and although Barrett’s 14th-minute try was a contentious one, an earlier converted five-pointer by Fekitoa helped the All Blacks to develop a 14-6 interval lead.
Yet, penalties from Sexton and his replacement, Jackson, kept Ireland within touching distance, and another Jackson three-pointer set-up a tense final-quarter. There was a suspicion of a forward pass for Lienert-Brown’s crucial 14 minutes from time, but with referee Jaco Pyper choosing not to consult with his TMO, Ireland fell to a 21-9 reversal ahead of their final November test at home to Australia on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it proved to be a tough afternoon for the Ireland Women side at the UCD Bowl on Saturday, as they were comprehensively beaten by an impressive Canada in a November Series International.
Tries from LaToya Blackwood, Julianne Zussman, and Karen Paquin, as well as nine points from the boot of Andrea Burk provided Canada with a 24-0 interval platform – and although Nikki Caughey responded with a seven-point salvo after the resumption, further scores by Emily Belchos, Kayla Mack, Magali Harvey and Zussman guided the visitors towards a 48-7 triumph.
This was a second consecutive loss for Tom Tierney’s charges, who will complete their Series against New Zealand in UCD on Sunday afternoon (2pm kick-off).