Just another 'Moral Victory' against The All Blacks

Over a 100 year span of playing Test Rugby against The All Blacks Ireland has never once come away with a win.  During this time we have had our fair share of 'Moral Victories' and near misses like the drawn game in 1973, a three point loss at Carisbrook, Dunedin in 1992 and more recently the ten point loss in Windy Wellingtons Westpac Stadium.

The home crowd were expecting the Irish to be beaten easily

I managed to get to an Ireland - All Blacks test match in Hamilton back in 2006 but really wasn't expecting us to put up much of a show really.  The atmosphere in the pubs outside the ground was great, a few pints were had and I was really looking forward to the game.

Both teams were evenly matched on the night

New Zealand scored very early on in the game but coming in at half time we were leading by 16 points to 8.  I couldn't believe it.  I even managed to grab a little bit of air time on TV after Ireland scored their first try but not quite as much as my friend who was sat at the opposite end of the ground from me in his Leprechaun outfit.

Ronan O'Gara had a chance to give Ireland the lead late in the game 

The second half started in the same manner as the first with New Zealand grabbing a try but again we hit back with a try of our own to keep our lead intact.  The home crowd suddenly felt they were in a game when the chant 'All Blacks' went around the ground at which point my nerves were in shreds and my finger nails were slowly being eaten away.  For the final 20 minutes I could barely watch the game as New Zealand just kept chipping away at the lead with penalty goals.   After 71 minutes of play The All Blacks finally edged ahead but Ronan O'Gara had a chance to give us the lead again with another penalty as the picture above shows, unfortunately for us Irish in the crowd he missed and when Troy Flavell scored in the final few minutes to a roar of relief from the crowd another chance to beat New Zealand had passed us by.

It never gets any easier

And so the wait continues for our debut win against the men in black and we have another shot against them this very weekend in Dublin at the new Lansdowne Road.  I'm hoping for a very passionate full house, a team who won't give The All Blacks an inch and maybe just maybe something more than another of our world famous 'Moral Victories'.