New Zealand claim statement win over top-ranked Ireland

DUBLIN : New Zealand claimed a statement victory for new coach Scott Robertson as Damian McKenzie helped kick them to a 23-13 success over world number one side Ireland and hand their rivals a first home defeat in 20 matches at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.

The All Blacks anticipated a backlash after dumping Ireland out of last year's Rugby World Cup in an epic quarter-final clash but Friday's game failed to live up to the pre-match hype in a first half that a more cohesive New Zealand shaded 9-6.

The momentum looked to have turned when a Josh van der Flier try put the back-to-back Six Nations champions in front early in the second half but McKenzie moved the visitors ahead again before a Will Jordan try put the game out of sight.

Ireland will be bitterly disappointed with one of their poorest performances in years, particularly after so much focus on avenging their most agonising World Cup quarter-final exit to date in a tournament they had high hopes of winning.

They started on the front foot on Friday, an Andrew Porter block down on Cortez Ratima within the first two minutes setting the tone for Jack Crowley to kick them into the lead after New Zealand fell foul of new laws around kicks in open play.

The contrasting style of Ireland's precise phase-play attack against New Zealand's ability to create something out of nothing was evident when Ratima found a gap and his searing break resulted in McKenzie levelling at 3-3.

The temperature went up a notch minutes later when players from both sides had to be separated as the camera panned with perfect Hollywood timing to "Gladiator 2" star and Irishman Paul Mescal in the crowd enjoying the scuffle.

But it was cagey cat-and-mouse stuff once the action resumed with Ireland making