Setpiece problems continue as Ireland struggle to build front row depth

If you didn't know the final score before looking through the main statistics of Ireland's first Test defeat to the All Blacks last Saturday, you'd probably have been surprised to find out about the 42-19 scoreline.

Across a lot of the basic metrics, Ireland performed reasonably well; they had more possession and territory than their hosts, and the mix of carrying (145), passing (204) and kicking (20) suggests there was enough variety in their attack, and they weren't running down blind alleys or taking contact for the sake of contact.

The attacking variety was good all round, with the starting pack combining for 64 carries and 34 passes, again suggestive of a plan that is fluid and cohesive and adaptable.

They conceded fewer penalties, had more defenders beaten than the All Blacks, their eight offloads were double that of the hosts, while their 97% ruck success and 91% tackle success was reasonable and pretty much identical to their opponents.

But there is no better team in the game at shining a light on weakness than the All Blacks, who pounced on every Irish mistake to effectively kill off the game inside an eight minute spell at the end of the first half, scoring three quick tries to leave Ireland with a mountain to climb.

It was a strange Ireland performance across the board. Rather than being undone by a collectively poor display or two or three individuals who never showed up, almost every player on the pitch married several brilliant moments with a couple of individual mistakes. The difference between New Zealand's 42 points and Ireland's 19 was that when Andy Farrell's side made errors, they were also made to pay for them.

Garry Ringrose scored an incredible try to briefly give Ireland hope in the second half, and at