13 Garry Ringrose 6.5
Spilled an early high ball, but recovered well with confident ball carries at the All Blacks. Caught chasing the ball when the All Blacks exploded out wide for Fainga’anuka’s try. Key distributions with Aki and working the forwards into the back-line. Put pressure on the high ball catchers, with a big hit on Beauden Barrett.
14 Mack Hansen 5.5
A slower start from the Connacht man’s high standards, he was sold by Sam Cane’s dummy and left space in the Irish back-line. Nicely executed 50-22 kick, on the 43rd minute, and took a quick throw that optimised the relentless pace of the game. Cross field kick to Sheehan almost led to a try, and picked up an ankle injury for an early exit. (Off – Jimmy O’Brien 55 minutes)
15 Hugo Keenan 7
Early contributions, tried to find James Lowe out wide for a try but the offload didn’t go to hands. Breaking through the gaps excited Ireland fans in Paris. Covered well in the back-field, with Hansen caught out of position on occasion. Outpaced by Will Jordan for the All Blacks’ try, and battled on despite being busted open. Still found the gaps with blood in his eyes, and tracked back well for Mo’unga’s back-field kicks.
Replacements:
16 Ronan Kelleher 6
Entered a tug of war over the ball with Aaron Smith for his first contribution. Thought that he had scored Ireland’s all-important try, but the rolling maul effort was held up by Jordie Barrett’s best efforts at 71 minutes.
17 Dave Kilcoyne 5
On for the final five minutes, with questions asked for why it took so late to introduce him. Andrew Porter had a slow game up front in the scrum, and Kilcoyne’s involvement could have been more in hindsight.
18 Finlay Bealham 6
Took over well for Tadhg Furlong, to try and re-gather some structure in a heavily penalised Irish front row. Set the foundations for the improved second half line-outs, and had a fire in his eyes in each and every carry.
19 Joe McCarthy 7
On for Iain Henderson as a breath of fresh air, the young gun had a strong impression and will have helped his future selections odds to no end. Taking carries from the off, Bealham took him by the scruff of the neck and drove for some hard yards in the second half. Didn’t look out of place, or needed to be ‘under a wing’ for the big stage.
20 Jack Conan 6
Tackled hard, but did not make the dominant tackles that he would have liked. On for van der Flier, and contributed key bricks to the Irish wall, that was eventually knocked down by the All Blacks.
21 Conor Murray 6
Introduced to calm the heads as Ireland looked on the verge of a first ever semi-final. However, this match turned out the be the last ride for Conor Murray alongside Johnny Sexton, with the tried and tested partnership fighting to the end against New Zealand.
22 Jack Crowley N/a – unused.
23 Jimmy O’Brien 6.5
Immediate carries after a 55th minute introduction, and danced his way through the backs to make some key line breaks. Another player like Joe McCarthy who has made a good impression for the future, O’Brien stole the ball on the 74th minute but was hit hard into touch. A great areal contribution, one of the best replacements for Ireland.
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