All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick said avoiding an early exit from the Rugby World Cup would be just as important a motivation as avenging last year’s home Test series loss to Ireland when they meet Andy Farrell’s top-ranked team on Saturday.
Ireland came from a Test down to win a three-match series in New Zealand for the first time last year but the three-time world champions will have a chance to take a measure of revenge in the quarter-final at Stade De France.
Retallick, a World Cup winner in 2015, said the memory of losing to England in the semi-finals four years ago was as much of a driving force for the players who endured it.
New Zealand Test series
“To get knocked out and to feel the pain of not being in the final and then obviously when the Irish came down to New Zealand,” he said when asked about his motivation for the match.
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“I don’t think you’d talk to any professional rugby player that likes getting beaten so it’s definitely motivational. We touched on 2019 as a team before we left New Zealand. Obviously, some of us haven’t experienced that and it’s a hard lesson to learn when you do. Our plan is obviously not to go through that pain this week.”
The experienced secondrow forward has particular reason to remember the loss to Ireland in the third Test in Wellington last year after he sustained a broken cheekbone that ruled him out of the Rugby Championship.
Irish prop Andrew Porter was shown a yellow card and cited for the high shot but received no further punishment for the incident, which almost certainly would have drawn a red card at this World Cup.
Enthusiasm of the crowd
“I’m not going to dwell on it,” added Retallick, a little disingenuously having raised the matter. “It was still head-on-head in my opinion and it’s frustrating when you get injuries that rule you out of the game.”
Retallick said he had been enjoying the atmosphere the Irish fans have been bringing to the tournament, particularly the renditions of the 1990s pop song Zombie. “I think that’s one of the awesome parts about a world cup, the enthusiasm the crowd bring,” he added. “I’ve seen them singing the Cranberries, it’s a great song, but hopefully they’re not singing it on Saturday.”
Coach Ian Foster, who almost lost his job over the Ireland series loss, said tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax still has a chance to play on Saturday despite aggravating a knee injury in New Zealand’s final pool game against Uruguay.
