Watch - All Blacks prop Angus Ta'avao sent off
New Zealand lost to Ireland in Dunedin after being reduced to 14-man after prop Angus Ta’avao was sent off for a head clash with Ireland centre Garry Ringrose.
Ireland led 10-0 at the midway point of the first half following an early try from prop Andrew Porter.
Porter powered over inside three minutes to round off a period of sustained Irish pressure, with Sexton adding the extras and later landing a long-range penalty.
The All Blacks were then temporarily reduced to 14 men after winger Leicester Fainga’anuku was sin-binned for a late challenge on Hansen.
New Zealand were temporarily reduced to 13 men after prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi was yellow carded for tackling Garry Ringrose off the ball.
Angus Ta’avao was brought on as cover for Tu’ungafasi and then promptly sent off following head-on-head contact with Ringrose.
Ta’avao was left bloodied by his challenge, while the stricken Ringrose also departed the field, with Bundee Aki replacing him.
The red card also lead to Ardie Savea being removed from the action at next scrum reset, a decision that came back to haunt them minutes later when the decision became permanent.
Australian journalist Christy Doran wrote: Nothing but red card. All Blacks replacement prop Angus Ta’avao has to be sent off. No drop, little mitigation. Red."
Irish Daily Mail reporter Rory Keane noted: "Angus Ta’avao becomes the sixth All Black to be sent off in Test history. The fourth in 50 years..."
Despite their numerical disadvantage, New Zealand only trailed 10-7 at the break.
Beauden Barrett dived over after the ball squirted out of a ruck to reduce the deficit following relentless All Blacks pressure just before the interval, with Jordie Barrett adding the conversion.
Ireland vice-captain James Ryan had moments earlier been shown a yellow card for cynically stopping an All Blacks quick-tap penalty.
Ireland would go on to claim a famous win, their first on New Zealand soil.
Latest Comments
Disagree.
The challenge for the All Blacks now that they have 7 of 8 starting forwards locked in and all but one bench forward (only one loose forward and bench loosie to settle on) is to sort out the starting backline as only 9 Roigard, 12 J. Barrett, 11 Clarke and 15 Jordan had good to outstanding seasons in 2024. All the other backs were inconsistent or poor and question marks going into 2025.
Go to commentshe should not be playing 12. He should be playing 10 and team managers should stop playing players out of position to accommodate libbok.
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