Ireland 'A' no match for stylish All Blacks XV

Ireland A 19 - 47 All Blacks XV

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said the All Blacks XV coming to Dublin would be a step-up in class from the Maori side Ireland's A team faced this summer, and there’s no doubt he was right.

The 47-19 scoreline was a fair reflection on the gap between the sides at the RDS, where the tourists ripped Ireland's hopefuls apart at times, particularly when the game was still in the balance in the opening 50 minutes.

Scanning the team-sheets before the game, Shaun Stevenson’s name jumped out alongside eight Test All Blacks, and after he tormented Ireland’s midweek side this summer, Stevenson inflicted further damage on them with two first half tries this evening, the second of which finished off a sensational counter-attack from their own 22.

The fact that Ireland only trailed 19-7 at the break was fortunate, with Andy Farrell’s side battling their way back from conceding three tries to finish strong in the opening half, Ciarán Frawley scoring and converting the try after great offloading from his forwards.

The second half was just 32 seconds old when Stevenson split the Irish defence once again, and his full-back Ruben Love scored try number four, while they tagged on three further tries to ease to a well deserved victory.

The positives from an Irish point of view were hard to find. A lack of protection at the ruck saw captain Craig Casey constantly harassed, their lineout failed to give their attack a platform, and on too many of the occasions they got things moving in the backline, their passing was either too flat or too deep.

Their best performers arguably came off the bench. Jack Crowley brought real energy to the attack in his 34-minute cameo, while Max Deegan was rewarded for a strong showing