At the source of the rivalry between the All Blacks and the Irish

“But who do you think you are, my friend? You’re just dirty Richie McCaw.”

We talked about the fracture in the face of All Blacks second-row Brodie Retallick, whose cheekbone met the head of Leinster prop Andrew Porter, during the third Test in Wellington. Afterwards, we spoke clearly about Munster winger Peter O’Mahony, as he said during the second Test to his counterpart Sam Keane: “But who do you think you are, mate? You’re just filthy Richie McCaw.”

Arrogant and condescending

New Zealand does not like people touching its icons – even if they are “low cost” in the cane – nor having its supremacy on the rugby field challenged. On Monday, the New Zealand Herald published an angry editorial about the 15th Irish issue. “Over the past decades, some teams have made themselves universally unpopular because of the way they conducted themselves on or off the field. The most famous of these were Will Carling’s England from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, and they were never well-liked even by their supporters. They were seen as… Arrogant, condescending to her opponents, and all too keen to celebrate her successes, Ireland may have become the new England, their long standing as world number one leading them to believe they could do anything. » Close the ban!

We see only one explanation for this hive outbreak: since 2018, the Irish have beaten the All Blacks four times in six meetings. No other team performed better.

“As a group, these defeats motivated us.”

On Tuesday, Aaron Smith and Rico Ioane were keen to avoid any controversy and relegate the 2022 Tour disputes to the status of minor memories, and the New Scrum half confirmed: “No, I will not talk about the hatred between us.” “I think there is more mutual respect between two very experienced teams. I remember the camaraderie that followed the game in 2019 (Editor’s note: All Blacks win in the quarter-finals). What happened in 2022 is history. As a group, we have been motivated by these defeats.” »

Opinion shared by Rieko Ioane. The three-quarter All Blacks midfielder said: “We approach the final stage game not based on the emotions of last year but on what we have built since the beginning of the World Cup.”

harassment