Praise for Ireland side

Press, 20 November 1989, Page 25

Praise for Ireland side

NZPA Dublin Ireland gave the All Blacks as hard a rugby test as any they have had this year, the captain, Wayne Shelford, said yesterday. Speaking after the tourists ended their seven-test year with a 23-6 win at Lansdowne Road, Shelford praised the fight and spirit of Ireland and placed it ahead of Wales, who the All Blacks beat 34-9 a fortnight ago. “They played with a lot more commitment than Wales. They kept the pressure up right through the game, while Wales didn’t “Ireland was in the game right till the end and they were winning good ball. “Australia was the hardest game we’ve had all year and this one ranks right up there.” The coach, Alex Wyllie, said Ireland warranted credit for taking the match to the All Blacks. "We were a bit loose in the first half, didn’t win enough clean ball to commit them and it put pressure on our inside backs.

“It was pretty obvious the two or three times we did move it wide we made a lot of ground.” Ireland’s captain, the rugged lock, Willie Anderson, led by example and got the deafening support he wanted from the crowd of 53,000. He spoke with emotion after the match on his personal feelings on his debut as Ireland’s captain. "The commitment from our players was fantastic and the crowd was unbelievable. It was probably the greatest feeling and backing I’ve ever had in my life. It was just sad we couldn’t put a few more scores on the board.

“I think the score at the end maybe flattered them a bit. But they knew they’d been in a game. It’s probably the hardest game they’ve played,” he said. Ireland’s coach, Jimmy Davidson, said tactically the match went very well for Ireland. He praised Anderson’s leadership in getting a “masterly” performance out of his side. “It was a magnificent performance against a very, very good side,” he said. “It was great to see the Irish take the game to the New Zealanders. If these New Zealanders are going to be beaten you have to run the ball at them. “The one disappointment we might have was that we would have liked to stretch the ball and a contributory factor was not that we didn’t win ball but we made elementary errors, which prevented us using the ball,” Davidson said.

Anderson rated the All Blacks as probably the best side he had played against for technique and skill, but not necessarily the hardest in the physical sense. Match report .Back page