All Blacks win all but guaranteed vs Ireland after this display of brilliance
The All Blacks may have been annihilated by the Springboks in their last game before the World Cup. Then they may have been comfortably beaten by France in the opening game of the World Cup. But the improvement they have made since then is nothing short of superhuman.
France and the Springboks are good, but have they created a highly inefficient and impractical way of unloading bags off a lorry? No, didn’t think so. Have the All Blacks? Yes. What’s more, they have even praised themselves for it on social media.
Some would say, isn’t it easier for one person just to call out the name of the owner of a bag and then the owner goes and picks it up? Well where would the teamwork be in that? The All Blacks have found a way to turn a simple and easy individual task into a team effort with only a few minor problems by forming their ‘bag chain’- where they all pass their bags along to the hotel.
This just shows the elite level of teamwork by the men in black, and why it effectively spells the end of Ireland’s hopes of winning their World Cup quarter-final against them. On the other hand, Ireland may be the metaphorical pile of bags that awaits them once they get to the hotel. All their teamwork and trickery may have looked good with their bag chain, or their 96-17 win over Italy, but ultimately there is still a problem awaiting them once they reach a new pile of bags in the hotel, or a top ranked team in the form of Ireland. We will have to wait and see.
Take a look at the chain:
The All Blacks bag chain is unmatched 🙌#AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/hUbXzsPdWv
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 12, 2023
All Blacks (caps in brackets):
1. Ethan de Groot (19) 2. Codie Taylor (82) 3. Tyrel Lomax (29) 4. Brodie Retallick (106) 5. Scott Barrett (66) 6. Shannon Frizell (30) 7. Sam Cane (c) (92) 8. Ardie Savea (78) 9. Aaron Smith (122) 10. Richie Mo’unga (53) 11. Leicester Fainga’anuku (6) 12. Jordie Barrett (54) 13. Rieko Ioane (66) 14. Will Jordan (28) 15. Beauden Barrett (120)
Replacements: 16. Dane Coles (89) 17. Tamaiti Williams (5) 18. Fletcher Newell (11) 19. Samuel Whitelock (150) 20. Dalton Papali’i (29) 21. Finlay Christie (19) 22. Damian McKenzie (45) 23. Anton Lienert-Brown (67)
Ireland:
1 Andrew Porter 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Tadhg Beirne 5 Iain Henderson 6 Peter O’Mahony 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Caelan Doris 9 Jamison Gibson-Park 10 Johnny Sexton (c) 11 James Lowe 12 Bundee Aki 13 Garry Ringrose 14 Mack Hansen 15 Hugo Keenan
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher 17 Dave Kilcoyne 18 Finlay Bealham 19 Joe McCarthy 20 Jack Conan 21 Conor Murray 22 Jack Crowley 23 Jimmy O’Brien
