'No excuses' from Josh Van der Flier as Andrew Porter admits Ireland have 'a lot to work on'

Josh van der Flier was keen not to use rustiness as an excuse following Ireland's flat performance in their 10-point home loss to New Zealand on Friday night.

Scott Robertson's side ended Ireland's 19-game winning streak in Dublin - a run which began following the defeat to France in the 2021 Six Nations - with an impressive final-quarter surge.

Damian McKenzie's goal-kicking was critical throughout, the Chiefs out-half landing six in total in a cagey encounter, while Will Jordan's 68th-minute try gave them a crucial cushion entering the closing stages.

Van der Flier had burrowed over for Ireland's only try of the game early in the second half, which tellingly occurred during a period when New Zealand were reduced to 14 after Jordie Barrett's sin-binning.

This put the hosts briefly in the driving seat but they failed to press home their advantage and the All Blacks soon regained the initiative after a string of penalties.

"We didn't really get going," Van der Flier told RTÉ Sport afterwards.

"There was a lot of really good defence, I thought, but too many penalties. It was tough conditions out here, it was very, very greasy.

"It was scrappy for both sides but I think it was the penalties probably let us down more than anything. Kickable penalties. That was the difference in the end."

It was Ireland's first outing since the dramatic one-point win away to South Africa in Durban in July, while New Zealand - after a patchy Rugby Championship showing - had ground out a narrow win over England in Twickenham last weekend.

New Zealand coach Robertson (above) played down any notion of fatigue and, in the wake of defeat, Van der Flier dismissed the notion that rustiness impacted the home side.

"We won't see any excuses. I thought we had two