Technical issues leave Eir Sport customers unable to watch Ireland’s All Blacks win

If there was one great shame about Ireland’s win over New Zealand on Saturday night it was that so many supporters were unable to watch history as it unfolded.

The famous Test at Soldier Field, in which Joe Schmidt’s side beat the All Blacks 40-29 to lift a 111-year hoodoo, was not aired on terrestrial television.

Instead, it was shown on subscription channels Eir Sport 2 and BT Sport - leaving vast numbers of Irish fans without the option of watching their side’s famous win in Chicago live.

And even some of those with access to Eir Sport were left exasperated and without access to the match after the channel’s online services crashed.

A spokesperson for Eir Sport was unable to confirm the number of customers affected by the technical issue, they said: “A significant number of our Eir Sport customers enjoyed an historic Irish sporting occasion last night.

“We are looking into a technical problem which affected a very small number of customers. We repeated the game free to air on our Eir Sport 1 channel last night.

“We will show the game again today and a number of times during the week to give those fans who travelled to Chicago to see the game live a chance to relive the momentous victory”

A replay of the match on freeview might have been a nice bonus for those returning from the pub - but would offer scant consolation for those who missed out on witnessing history.