Retired England great Ben Youngs has delivered his verdict on last weekend\u2019s win by the All Blacks over Ireland in Chicago. <\/p>\n
New Zealand came from 7-13 behind to win 26-13<\/a> with a three-try, fourth-quarter flourish that sucked the life from Andy Farrell\u2019s below-par Irish side. Scott Robertson\u2019s New Zealand<\/a> weren\u2019t on top of their game either for large parts of the international in the United States.<\/p>\n However, they did enough to leave Youngs, the England men\u2019s record caps holder, voicing superlatives when reviewing the match on the For The Love Of Rugby<\/a> podcast he co-hosts with Dan Cole.<\/p>\n Youngs was especially smitten over what unfolded out of the blue in the 19th minute, with New Zealand trailing 0-10 after the concession of a converted try to Tadhg Furlong<\/a>. That score came at a time when the Irish were still playing with 14 players, as Tadhg Beirne<\/a> was shown a 20-minute red card.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the power that New Zealand have\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Replacement All Black Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku<\/a>\u00a0had come onto the field as a sub for the injured Jordie Barrett just before Furlong\u2019s Irish try, and the first touch he had in the New Zealand attack that followed that concession left Youngs purring.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old has only just recently ended his two-year absence from the Test rugby scene, playing last month against Australia for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final win over Ireland, as he had opted to leave the Crusaders for a two-season stint at Toulon.<\/p>\n Fainga\u2019anuku was a try-scorer in that all-time 2023 quarter-final classic against the Irish, and he immediately haunted them with his first touch of the ball on the Soldier Field halfway line, stepping Garry Ringrose and then offloading in a tackle that left two other Irish defenders on the floor, igniting the attack that ended with Ardie Savea scoring in the corner.<\/p>\n This massive impact blew Youngs away. \u201cI want to talk about some of the power that New Zealand have in terms of their strike runners and their players because New Zealand weren\u2019t at their best and I felt like New Zealand were uncharacteristic at times, but what they still possess is some individuals that can make things happen,\u201d he began.<\/p>\n Ex-All Black hails \u2018comprehensive\u2019 victory as Scott Robertson\u2019s men get a northern hemisphere \u2018education\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLeicester Fainga\u2019anuku came on as a replacement for Jordie Barrett \u2013 like, what a power athlete. He was a big part of the \u201923 World Cup. He then left for Toulon, has now come back, came on and is a right handful.<\/p>\n \u201cHe hands off Ringrose, goes on the outside, sucks in defenders, gets the offload away to Will Jordan, who hits a hell of a line. Through they go and they recycle it quick.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Fainga\u2019anuku] is then looking for a shoulder ball, so second effort. Offload, back on his feet. (Cam) Roigard gets it and look who is next to him, No.22, looking for a shoulder ball, looking for the next involvement.<\/p>\n \u201cRoigard hits a lovely ball across, and then New Zealand\u2019s ability to fill the field on the back of linebreaks is remarkable\u2026 and their ability to just catch a pass.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a prop for the first one (Ethan de Groot). He gets it, tips it and it goes all the way to Ardie Savea, who races away into the corner. That snippet is New Zealand in a nutshell.<\/p>\n Ex-Irish ref boss slams \u2018clearly incorrect\u2019 Tadhg Beirne red card exposes \u2018wider\u2019 World Rugby problem<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe saw it again in the last 20 minutes but that one in particular, New Zealand had looked a little bit stuttery, a couple of players had gone off, nothing was quite really happening in their game and then just one moment of individual athletic ability to break a couple of tackles, get the offload in and their appreciation of space, of holding their feet, catch-pass was phenomenal. That for me, that\u2019s New Zealand, that\u2019s rugby IQ at its absolute best.\u201d<\/p>\n Switching to Ireland, who had Farrell in charge for the first time since last November following his sabbatical as British and Irish Lions head coach, Youngs was of a mind to tell Irish fans not to panic despite his concern that their squad couldn\u2019t compete against New Zealand\u2019s power game similar to how they lost out earlier this year in the Six Nations to France.<\/p>\n \u201cIreland fans are wondering what\u2019s next, but I wouldn\u2019t panic,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were episodes in that game where Ireland looked really good. There were eking out penalties and were well in it for sure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big thing for me is just that power game. I saw it against France in the Six Nations, I saw it again in spells at the weekend in Chicago. I\u2019m just not sure Ireland can deal with that power game, and there\u2019s no greater test for Ireland than the last game of the Autumn Nations Series when they play South Africa because they are the ultimate power team.<\/p>\n