Ireland v All Blacks - Who stood out?

Beauden Barrett

The new World Rugby player of the year showed his class today, guiding his side to victory against an impressive Irish side. The out-half showed fantastic flair in attack as he made a couple of scintillating outside breaks and flashed the ball wide to his outside backs. The ten went over for a try himself in the first half as he showed his pace to burn Murray on the outside and dot down despite the efforts of Johnny Sexton. Barrett played a crucial role in Malakai Fekitoa’s second try of the game, which really killed the game. He also defended superbly, making a fantastic cover tackle on Ringrose to prevent a breakaway try.

Josh van der Flier

The young flanker really stepped up to the plate today as he replaced CJ Stander, who left the field of play with an injury. The Leinster man made his line-breaks look effortless as he cut through the New Zealand defence like a hot knife through butter. He also was extremely energetic in defence, making many of his sides tackles during the limited time New Zealand had on the ball. Van der Flier has definitely justified his selection by Joe Schmidt and showed his coach that he has serious depth in his squad at back-row.

Tadgh Furlong

A machine around the field and a force to be reckoned with at scrum-time, the Wexford native may have nailed on his spot in Ireland’s starting XV for the Six Nations today. His performance around the field was one of the most impressive seen in quite some time by a tighthead prop. The All Blacks were swatted away like flies by the monstrous number three, as he made the hard yards for his side time and time again. He was immovable in the scrum and really got the Irish on the front foot off of the set piece. If he can stay fit, he may be a mainstay in this Irish side for many years to come.