Gerry Thornley: Special night in Dunedin as Ireland savour historic victory over the All Blacks

Not going to lie. It was a good night in Dunedin.

One of the anomalies of professional sport, and particularly on such an exacting three-Test, five-match tour as this one, is that the Irish team prompted more celebrations late into the New Zealand night than they could have afforded to enjoy themselves.

Away from the madding crowds inside and outside the pubs in the Octagon area of Dunedin, the majority of customers in the Pequeno Wine and Cocktail bar – with its penchant for 80s disco music – were evidently Kiwi and wore All Blacks replica jerseys or black clothing, amid a fair sprinkling of those in green.

All the Kiwis were very generous in defeat and complimentary about the Irish performance, while also reflecting the palpable disaffection with Ian Foster and his coaching ticket.

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Indeed, some were of a mind to venture that a defeat next Saturday and a shock series loss at home to Ireland might be for the best if it prompts a promotion for Scott Robertson or Joe Schmidt.

[ World Rugby may ask Jaco Peyper to change his tune on several controversial decisions in Ireland’s win over All Blacks ]

[ New Zealand media reacts to Ireland defeat: ‘It’s now increasingly difficult to see how the coaching team can survive’ ]

[ Garry Ringrose to miss Ireland’s series decider against All Blacks with Peter O’Mahony a doubt ]

For those visiting supporters inside the Forsyth Barr Stadium it was an unforgettable night, cheering on an Irish side who led from third minute to last in recording a first win against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil at the 15th attempt.

Watching one grown man simply stand up, lean back, close his eyes and raise his arms to the roof above, one imagined he had been living in New Zealand for decades and could walk a little taller that night and for days to come. Or maybe, like most, he parted with hard-earned cash to travel here.

One New Zealand-based couple, who by their own admission had been fairly boisterous as Ireland took the lead in the third minute and never relinquished it, did say they had the content of a few cans thrown over them and some abuse, prompting them to ask stewards to have some people removed.

There was no sense of that hostility or even anything resembling a febrile atmosphere from the vantage point of the press box in the upper tiers which, unlike both Hamilton and Eden Park, were in the open air rather than behind glass.

The enclosed Forsyth Barr Stadium, built for approximately €120 million for the 2011 World Cup, looked an absolute picture and given it had been raining pretty much solidly for 48 hours in Dunedin assuredly made for a far better spectacle than would have been remotely possible without a roof.

Once again though, while there was a strong rendition of the New Zealand national anthem and the din in Dunedin for the cherished haka nearly lifted the roof off, thereafter it was a relatively muted atmosphere considering it was the biggest game in these parts for years.

Again it was nothing like the Aviva in 2013, allowing for the stunned reaction at the finish when Ryan Crotty scored and the silence largely afforded Aaron Cruden’s re-taken, match-winning conversion. Nor did it compare to the constant roaring and singing at the Aviva when Ireland beat the All Blacks in 2018 and 2021.

According to one experienced member of the New Zealand rugby media, New Zealanders are essentially reserved, on top of which they have no songs beyond chanting ‘All Blacks’, which thus far have not been very prominent.

The home crowd became so animated when Jaco Peyper brandished a yellow card for the Crusaders winger Leicester Fainga’anuku that you could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been sent off – which he might well have been.

In football, it’s often said that if the home side are becalmed the away side are going well. Perhaps the lack of atmosphere had something to do with Ireland establishing such a firm territorial foothold for much of the first half and the home crowd having little to cheer about for the first 35 minutes.

Perhaps they expected to be royally sated from the off, the All Blacks having won all seven games in this enclosed stadium and scoring just shy of 40 points on average in the process. From early on, it was clear this would not be one of those nights.

Even after incurring the red card, the home crowd were never roused with the same kind of righteous indignation which the Twickenham crowd demonstrated when realising they had to become their team’s 15th man.

True, they roared their team on to the lifeline afforded them by Beauden Barrett’s try with the last play of the first half.

At that point the momentum appeared to be all with them, but the manner in which Ireland resumed their control at the start of the second-half in the build-up to Andrew Porter’s second try quietened the home crowd again.

They were briefly roused again when local Highlanders hero Folau Fakatava was introduced for his All Blacks debut. When the roars continued as he carried from the base of a scrum and kicked upfield, those watching on television might have presumed this was a continuation of their love for Fakatava. But it was actually because some young supporter, down to his knocks and top, ran onto the pitch before he was ensnared by three stewards.

The die had been cast by the time Will Jordan scored a consolation try, and while the players were mindful of there being a series decider next Saturday, the Irish present attacked the night.

Not going to lie, it was a good one too.