What's needed is more discipline from the All Blacks and less whingeing from the Irish according to former All Black prop Craig Dowd.
What's needed is more discipline from the All Blacks and less whingeing from the Irish according to former All Black prop Craig Dowd.
The All Blacks have been heavily criticised for their ill discipline and head high tackling in the wake of their second test win over Ireland in Dublin at the weekend.
Former All Black Craig Dowd Photo: Photosport
It led to flanker Sam Cane and centre Malaki Fekitoa both being cited by World Rugby although Cane was found not guilty while Fekitoa who was sinbinned for his tackle was also suspended for another match.
In a column in ESPNscrum.com Dowd said the All Blacks had a completely different mindset to the loss in Chicago, "...no-one was going to wait for anyone else; there were 15 guys going out there and saying, 'I'm going to be the one who makes the difference right from the outset'"
Dowd compared the different reactions of both sides after their respective losses.
"Crying foul is wrong. At the end of the day the scoreboard says what the score was. You can whinge and moan all you like."
However he does take the All Blacks to task for their high penalty count.
"They need to put their hands up and say, 'hey, we gave away far too many penalties'. Some of those penalties were 100 percent right. They push the boundaries, but when they get under pressure the All Blacks have a mindset that they would much rather give a penalty away than concede a try."
Dowd was surprised by the officiating around Beauden Barrett's try, with the focus being on the grounding rather than Johnny Sexton's tacke on Barrett.
Beauden Barrett on his way to scoring against Ireland in Dublin. Photo: Photosport
"Sexton put his arms right round Barrett's neck and that should have been not only a penalty try, but a penalty back at halfway, and possibly a yellow card as well.
"It was mind-boggling for me that you've got a referee, a TMO and two touch judges more worried about the grounding than the head high tackle. Clearly, Sexton was trying to stop a try being scored just, as I've explained earlier, the All Blacks were trying to do in their infringements. But it just shows that it is part and parcel of the game of rugby."
The All Blacks final test of the year is against France in Paris on Sunday morning.
