Ever since Ireland finally beat New Zealand back in 2016, there has been quite a bit of needle between the sides.
Ireland would put together an impressive run of results against the All Blacks after that point, winning five out of seven meetings. Unfortunately that trend has been reversed in recent times as the southern hemisphere outfit won the last four encounters.
A few in New Zealand have been critical of Ireland in the aftermath of the game, especially when it came to the discussion around some key refereeing decisions.
As well as that, one well-know figure in the country has called out an Ireland star for what he labelled as ‘cheating’ during the contest.
John Kirwan accuses Ireland star of ‘cheating’
It’a fair to say that referee Nic Berry treated Ireland fairly harshly during that game, continually penalising them in the breakdown to go along with a couple of questionable card calls.
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However, some were delighted with the way the official conducted himself.
Speaking on Rugby Rivals, All Blacks great John Kirwan highlighted one particular incident in the game where he felt the referee called out ‘cheating’ from Ireland star Joe McCarthy.
It’s something that I want every single referee to look at, because we need this in South Africa.
In the 53rd minute, the Irish lock goes down and fakes an injury. Fakes an injury. You notice this when some props go down and fake an injury because they’re too tired.
The referee said to the guy ‘go off the back of the field and fix the guy up’, this is the two guys.
He got up, the lock got up and went straight back into the defensive line. It was what I call ‘cheating’, right?
The referee said ‘get off the field and fix him up’. I want to see more of that.
Ireland continue to struggle against top nations
This seems like a very harsh reading of the situation, with it appearing as though Joe McCarthy may have gone down to replace a contact lens. To call it ‘cheating’ would be a stretch in any case.
Ireland may well have a right to feel aggrieved with some of the officiating in this game, but they can have no complaints with the ultimate outcome. New Zealand were the better side and clearly deserved to win.
Andy Farrell could well have a big job on his hands to get this current group back competing with the likes of France, South Africa, and the All Blacks.