New Zealand 21 Ireland 11: True to history and form, Ireland gave it a reasonably good shot against a decidedly rusty, remodelled and unsure All Blacks in appalling conditions in the Westpac Stadium only to come up short.
Though level until the final quarter, the suspicion always lurked that they would pay for the disintegration of their set-piece and that, helped by the running threat of Dan Carter and Ma'a Nonu and their own weariness after a season effectively in it's 12th month for many of them, history would repeat itself. So it came to pass.
Having come up short for the 21st time in over a century of meetings between the countries, once again, Ireland will rue one that got away. There were many good points, a barnstorming performance by Paul O'Connell typifying the aggression of the pack while David Wallace, in his huge defensive effort as he shored up the midfield as well as the defence and in his typically robust ball-carrying, was immense.
Robert Kearney oozed confidence from the back on a horrendous night for full-backs or wingers especially, but having begun brightly they allowed a palpably nervous All Blacks into the game with their own mistakes. In particular, compounding a difficult night in the scrums, the Irish line-out buckled.
Jerry Flannery was given the shepherd's hook after four lost throws, but another couple went awry from Rory Best after his introduction, and on a howling wet night in Wellington one couldn't understand why Ireland opted for so many long throws rather than the safety of Donncha O'Callaghan at the front.
Ultimately though, especially once Carter and co found their range, Ireland created very little save for one well-executed close range try by Paddy Wallace - who played well in the circumstances - and in their two tries, the All Blacks showed much the greater cutting edge.
Most critically of all, the All Blacks' forwards were much the stronger in the close-in collisions and trench warfare where the battle lines were drawn.
The doom-laden forecasts duly came to fruition with perfect timing, though slightly ahead of schedule, about half an hour before the kick-off. Perhaps this deterred the walk-up spectators, but in any event the Cake Tin was someway shy of its 34,500 capacity, with more having been in attendance for the Hurricanes-Crusaders Super 14 game recently.
Even the haka seemed relatively subdued before New Zealand kicked off into a stiff Saturday night Wellington wind and slanting sheets of rain. The All Blacks began nervously too, nobody more so than Carter, whose tactical kicking in the tricky conditions was very ropey while his general play was ordinary and even a little ponderous.
Putting boot to ball, whether through the air or along the deck, quickly became the best means of attack. The All Blacks had the luckiest early escape when Eoin Reddan's chargedown of Mils Muliaina's kick bounced against the corner flag before Tommy Bowe could get his hands on the ball.
That said, the most potent and ominous signs were the collisions around the fringes which the home pack were winning from the outset. Twice Ireland took the ball into contact, through Paddy Wallace off a poor Ronan O'Gara pass, and Paul O'Connell, and twice they were turned over by the cohesion and strength of the All Blacks' drive.
The home pack also put together a sequence of close-in drives from a line-out on the 22 to the Irish line which ended when they moved the ball to Ma'a Nonu in midfield and he dropped it. Instead, O'Gara kicked Ireland in front after Andrew Hore played the ball on the deck.
But when the All Blacks hooker retrieved a line-out throw to Marcus Horan, in three passes the All Blacks had scored from inside half-way. Long passes by Andy Ellis and Carter gave Conrad Smith the space to attack a huge channel and skin Brian O'Driscoll on the inside - Leamy defending a little too narrowly - though the centre's try-scoring pass to Sivivatu looked clearly forward.
However, Ali Williams let the restart go, with Denis Leamy coming through to nab Ellis close to the line. From a recycle off a second tap penalty, O'Gara and Paddy Wallace switched to the blind side cleverly for the latter to sprint through a gap inside Sivivatu which Williams couldn't fill.
Carter kicked his restart out on the full and O'Gara then saw a 45 metre penalty fall short but mistakes and penalties let the All Blacks' into the game.
Kearney having kicked out on the full and Shane Horgan, having put his foot on the touchline, but most of all the line-out began to disintegrate and a windblown throw by Jerry Flannery led to David Wallace conceding a three-pointer which was almost a relief after more All Blacks' pack pressure.
Ireland at least kept the increasingly dominant home side out until the break - David Wallace hauling down Nonu - for the players to depart 8-apiece. Upon the resumption, Carter lost another aerial tit-for-tat with a poor kick to O'Gara and a short touchfinder, from which a rare offensive line-out drive enabled O'Gara to kick Ireland ahead.
But hands in the ruck by Heaslip quickly saw Carter level matters again and gradually he began to find his range. A deft little grubber nearly led to a try by Smith and following a huge touchfinder Marcus Horan turned a relieving Irish scrum into a penalty for throwing a punch on the deck - incurring the wrath of O'Connell and three points to Carter.
After another big touchfinder by Carter, from a line-out the All Blacks' outhalf then made his trademark step off his left foot inside O'Gara to shred the Irish defence. His threat had always been feared, as had Nonu's, and off the recycle So'oialo moved the ball on to debutant prop John Schwalger. He stayed strong in the tackle to offload for Nonu to take a superb line and show typical strength in sliding over.
That was effectively that, O'Gara's 40 metre penalty falling short and the belated use of the bench contributing toward a late Irish assault on the Blacks' line. Ultimately, it was the same old story.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins O'Gara pen 0-3; 16 mins Sivivatu try 5-3; 20 mins P Wallace try 5-8; 33 mins Carter pen 8-8; (half-time 8-8); 43 mins O'Gara pen 8-11; 46 mins Carter pen 11-11; 60 mins Carter pen 14-11; 65 mins Nonu try 21-11.
New Zealand: M Muliaina (Waikato Chiefs); A Tuitavake (Auckland Blues), C Smith (Wellington Hurricanes), M Nonu (Wellington Hurricanes), S Sivivatu (Waikato Chiefs); D Carter (Caterbury Crusaders), A Ellis (Canterbury Crusaders); N Tialata (Wellington Hurricanes), A Hore (Wellington Hurricanes), J Afoa (Auckland Blues), B Thorn (Canterbury Crusaders), A Williams (Canterbury Crusaders), R So'oialo (Wellington Hurricanes), R McCaw (Canterbury Crusaders, capt), J Kaino (Auckland Blues). Replacements: J Schwalger (Wellington Hurricanes) for Afoa (33 mins), A Thomson (Otago Highlanders) for So'oialo (43-49 mins) and for Kaino (75 mins), L MacDonald (Canterbury Crusaders) for Tuitavake (50 mins), K Mealamu (Auckland Blues) for Hore (55 mins). Not used: A Boric (Auckland Blues), J Cowan (Otago Highlanders), S Donald (Waikato Chiefs).
Ireland: R Kearney (UCD/Leinster); S Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), B O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster, capt), P Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster); R O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), E Reddan (Wasps); M Horan (Shannon/Munster), J Flannery (Shannon/Munster), J Hayes (Bruff/Munster), D O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), P O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster), D Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), D Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), J Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster). Replacements: R Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) for Flannery (52 mins), T Buckley (Shannon/Munster) for Horan (62 mins), M O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), S Jennings (St. Mary's College/Leinster) for Heaslip and P Stringer (Shannon/Munster) for Reddan (both 72 mins), G Murphy (Leicester) for Kearney (75 mins). Not used: M O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), G Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster).
Referee: Chris White (England).
