Ireland ready to respond after 'honest' New Zealand chat, says Hansen

By Sports Desk November 12, 2024

Mack Hansen has backed Ireland to bounce back from their 23-13 defeat to New Zealand that saw their 19-game home winning streak come to an end.

The loss also saw Ireland tumble from atop the world rankings to third as the All Blacks repeated their World Cup quarter-final success from last year, and also marked New Zealand's first win on Irish soil since 2016. 

Ireland had previously won 25 of their 26 home games under Andy Farrell, which was their longest run on home soil, with their latest defeat before last Friday coming against France in 2021 (13-15). 

While questions have been asked of a team that have been beaten in three of their past five matches, Hansen was adamant that the mood is not dampened ahead of Friday’s visit of Argentina. 

"People are always very eager to jump on you when you’re down. It’s like in South Africa, nobody gave them a hope after the first Test," said Hansen. 

“And what happens? They come back and win it. That’s the best thing about this group. The outside noise is outside noise and nobody knows what goes on in here, how hard we work and how resilient we are.

"People can chat away. The people who know us know, unfortunately, it was one of those weeks [against New Zealand], but we’re ready to bounce back.”

Ireland's display was littered with errors against the All Blacks, which included 21 handling mistakes, 30 missed tackles and 13 penalties conceded at the Aviva Stadium. 

But eradicating those mistakes could prove difficult when they face Argentina on Friday, who come into the encounter on the back of a 50-18 thrashing of Italy. 

​Ireland, however, have not lost to the Pumas since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final and have beaten them on the three subsequent occasions they have played in Dublin.

And Hansen is confident his team-mates can respond against Felipe Contepomi's side and continue their impressive run against Argentina. 

“There weren’t really hard chats, just honest chats,” added Hansen on Monday's debrief. 

"We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t good enough and also that it just wasn’t us.

"So this week we’re looking to right a lot of wrongs and no better place to do it then back in the Aviva in front of a home crowd."

Related items

  • England on top in Wellington after scintillating Brook century England on top in Wellington after scintillating Brook century

    Harry Brook smashed an incredible century and Brydon Carse followed up with crucial wickets as England ended day one of their second Test against New Zealand in a commanding position.

    England had initially been reduced to 43-4 after batting first and were indebted to Brook, who hit 123 from 115 deliveries to claim his second ton in as many matches.

    Brook and Ollie Pope (66) put on a 174-run stand for the fifth wicket to get the tourists' innings back on track.

    "I think that might be my favourite hundred so far, I enjoyed that one a lot," a delighted Brook said.

    "Most of the balls came out of the middle of the bat and it feels pretty special to be batting like that.

    "We were three down when I came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging, so I'm just glad I put my attacking mode on. I really took it to them and put them under a lot of pressure.

    "They had to try and bowl at the stumps early on and I felt like the time to run down was then, cash in when it's full.

    "I just tried to take them off their length and stop them bowling on the stumps. The best mode of defence for me was attack and thankfully it came off."

    With Zak Crawley (17), who hit a six in the first over, top-scoring within the first four wickets and Chris Woakes (18) after Brook and Pope, it is not an exaggeration to say that England largely owe their score of 280 to two batsmen.

    But it was not until the changeover that the value of their partnership came to the fore, with England's bowlers able to claim important wickets to leave New Zealand 86-5 at stumps.

    Gus Atkinson, Ben Stokes and Woakes all claimed one wicket each, with Carse taking 2-28.

    Kane Williamson (37) had survived a caught behind review and being balled off a no-ball from Carse before the fast bowler finally got his man.

    Carse had a hand in the final three wickets of the day, having executed a diving catch to get Rachin Ravindra, before Williamson and Daryl Mitchell were both caught off his deliveries.

    Data debrief: Brook and Carse get England on top

    Brook's century in Wellington was the eighth of his career and second in as many Tests.

    He got to 100 in just 91 balls, while his fifth-wicket stand with Pope also came at more than one run per ball. Carse, meanwhile, contributed to a period in which New Zealand lost four wickets for just 27 runs.

    The Black Caps are aiming for a sixth Test win of 2024, which would be the most victories they have recorded in a single calendar year, but they have plenty of work to do if they are to achieve that feat.

  • Stokes backs 'phenomenal' Crawley to improve New Zealand record Stokes backs 'phenomenal' Crawley to improve New Zealand record

    England captain Ben Stokes is confident that opener Zak Crawley can improve his poor record against New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington.

    During England's eight-wicket triumph in the first Test, Crawley scored just one run from 20 deliveries across his two innings, with Matt Henry dismissing him on both occasions. 

    That subsequently brought his batting average down to 9.88 against New Zealand, having struggled in his nine Tests and 17 innings against the Kiwis. 

    Since 2000, only West Indies' Marlon Samuels (9.81 against Sri Lanka) has played as many innings against the same opponents and ended with a lower batting average. 

    "Some guys have bogey teams, some guys have teams they do really well against," Stokes told BBC Sport.

    "We're one Test match into a series against New Zealand, but over the past 18 months Zak has been absolutely phenomenal for us."

    Stokes did, however, point to the job done by Crawley and his opening partner Ben Duckett in setting the tone at the beginning of an England innings.

    Of all pairs to have opened at least 10 times for England in Tests, Crawley and Duckett's run-rate of 5.03 is at least a run faster than the next quickest, which is Crawley and Alex Lees.

    "Those two have been such a successful pairing for us," added Stokes.

    "They go out there with a mindset of putting the opposition bowlers under pressure straight away, not allowing them to settle in."

    Both England and New Zealand are unchanged for the second Test in Wellington, with Chris Woakes named among the squad despite his poor away record. 

    Woakes' wickets cost an average of 51.4 runs compared to 21.6 at home, but he did make a crucial intervention in the first Test in Christchurch. 

    During New Zealand's second innings, he grabbed the wickets of Kane Williamson (61) and Tom Blundell (0) in successive deliveries on his way to figures of 3-59. 

    "Someone with his skill level should never doubt themselves wherever they are in the world," said Stokes.

    "It's belief in himself, belief from myself and Brendon McCullum that he's not just someone who is going to be playing in England."

    An England victory in Wellington would also secure their first series win in New Zealand since 2008. 

  • England unchanged for Wellington Test as Pope keeps wicket again England unchanged for Wellington Test as Pope keeps wicket again

    England have selected an unchanged team for the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, with Ollie Pope again deputising as wicketkeeper. 

    England triumphed by eight wickets in the first of three Tests in Christchurch, with debutant Jacob Bethell hitting an unbeaten half-century to guide the tourists over the line in their second innings.

    Pope, meanwhile, was faultless behind the stumps as he stood in for the injured Jordan Cox and also made 77 with the bat in the first innings, hitting his first half-century since September.

    Team-mate Chris Woakes told BBC Sport he was impressed by the way Pope had taken on the role, saying: "They always say when you don't notice a keeper he's done a good job.

    "Ollie certainly did that. He was brilliant last week, stepping into a role he hasn't done a lot of.

    "Obviously he can keep and has done previously for England, but to step up at short notice like that and do the job he did was fantastic. 

    "For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on. To move to number six, get such a good score for us and contribute to a big partnership was massive."

    Captain Ben Stokes, meanwhile, keeps his place as an all-rounder after overcoming an injury scare in the first Test,

    England team: ⁠Zak Crawley, ⁠Ben Duckett, ⁠Jacob Bethell, ⁠Joe Root, Harry Brook, ⁠Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (c), ⁠Chris Woakes,⁠ ⁠Gus Atkinson,⁠ ⁠Brydon Carse,⁠ ⁠Shoaib Bashir.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.