CHICAGO. — New Zealand rugby coach Steve Hansen refused to blame the All Blacks’ injury crisis after his side crashed to a stunning first ever defeat to Ireland.The New Zealanders had gone into Saturday’s game with locks Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Luke Romano all unavailable, a weakness that Ireland exploited mercilessly on their way to a historic 40-29 win at Soldier Field.

“People will say ‘Ah, but you didn’t have your two locks,’” Hansen said. “But we haven’t got any excuses — we just got beaten by a better side on the day. “And that happens when you play good sides. We’ve been saying for quite some time that Ireland are a good team.”

All Black skipper Kieran Read said the New Zealanders, who only last month had won a record 18th consecutive game, had been unable to summon the right mental approach.

“We just didn’t come out with the right attitude,” Read said. “We allowed Ireland to be dominant in that first half. There’s a few lessons we’ve got to learn. “They came out with a lot of emotion and played very smartly and won a lot of the loose ball. We just weren’t able to get into the game. They came out and beat us in the key areas.” — AFP

 

 

CHICAGO. — New Zealand rugby coach Steve Hansen refused to blame the All Blacks’ injury crisis after his side crashed to a stunning first ever defeat to Ireland. (more…)