
Share
3rd July 2022
05:56pm BST

"They're unbeaten in Eden Park, they’ve got that track record there. But it’s massively exciting for us as well to come over to their backyard, the best nation in the world, and try and create a bit of history by winning there." "We genuinely believe," he added, "that if we get our stuff right and perform to our capability then we can beat whoever we play on the day."When the final whistle sounded at Eden Park, on Saturday night, nowhere near enough Irish players got their stuff right. Two run-throughs of the game fare well on Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw. Dan Sheehan had a fine game, too, and Garry Ringrose did well but still carded two big errors. The most disappointing Ireland performers were Caelan Doris, Jamison Gibson Park and the second row pairing of James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne. When all the footage is pored over and the stats logged, checked and re-checked, the result shows an odd Doris anomaly. [caption id="attachment_266163" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Caelan Doris was starting in his 24th game of the season, for Leinster and Ireland, this weekend. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
For the rest of the game - his next 49 minutes - Doris only made one more carry. 20 minutes into the game, he was driven back by prop George Bower. There was one more possession, late in the game, which he passed away. He was on the fringes.[caption id="attachment_266165" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Caelan Doris of Ireland is tackled by Brodie Retallick of New Zealand. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
All going well, Ireland would have planned for Doris to launch off the back of a couple of scrums. As it all played out, the Ireland scrum was under pressure all day. On the couple of occasions when the ball made its' way back to the No.8, all he could do was flick the ball up to Jamison Gibson Park.There was a moment, just before the 29 minute mark and Johnny Sexton's slip into Sam Cane, when Doris jogged over and went to clear out George Bower when the ball was already available for Gibson Park to pass. Rather than hold his position and offer an extra carrying option, he wandered in to give Bower a knock. Ireland, at this stage, were eight phases into an attack and it was frantic going. Two phases later and the passing between Sexton, Ringrose and James Lowe was not crisp - Sevu Reece took advantage for the breakaway try. On 31 minutes, he was needed to stop a charging Beauden Barrett after he left Joey Carbery for dust. 10 seconds after that, he went in for an unsuccessful poach after James Ryan brought down Brodie Retallick. One of his last real impact plays arrived in the 33rd minute as he brought down Jordie Barrett. The ball spilled loose and Sam Whitelock gave away a penalty for diving over that ball and into a ruck. Doris' could not prevent Gibson Park getting turned over inside his 22 when the scrumhalf unwisely went it alone with a snipe off the back of an easily won Irish lineout. Seconds later, off that turnover ball, Beauden Barrett was putting through a kick for Quinn Tupaea to score off. The 16 second minutes Doris played featured no carries or passes. He was limited to clear-outs after teammates' carries and jumped to claim a five-metre lineout throw. His final moments on the pitch were stuck in re-set scrums and one last foray up-field before a Reece knock-on saw Ireland get a penalty. On as the fresh legs, for Doris, Jack Conan made seven carries for all of 14 metres.
Three carries for six metres gained
Two passes
11 tackles
One lineout won
Nine rucks hit (attacking)
Four ruck hits (defending)
Two poach attempts
Explore more on these topics: