All Blacks lose captain Scott Barrett with injury, rely on late surge to beat Ireland in Chicago
Sunday, 2 November 2025
At Soldier Field, Chicago: All Blacks 26 (Ardie Savea 19', Tamaiti Williams 62', Wallace Sititi 66', Cam Roigard 77' tries; Beauden Barrett 3 con) Ireland 13 (Tadgh Furling try 16'; Jack Crowley con, 2 pen). HT: 7-10
Red card: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
Injured captain and lock Scott Barrett, sitting on the sidelines at Soldier Field, must have swivelled his eyes to the heavens and been thankful that the All Blacks were able to beat Ireland 26-13 in Chicago on Sunday morning (NZT).
That scoreline may suggest this was a convincing victory for the All Blacks. But it wasn't.
They had to scrap for this victory against an Ireland team that came to town with a dysfunctional lineout and looked gassed after the 70-minute mark.
The All Blacks will know, as they reflect on the result, that they were too inaccurate, especially after making linebreaks, and will be glad to see the back of French referee Pierre Brousset.
The Irish, and fans, may also say they would be happy not to see the Frenchman again in a hurry.
He loved to blow his whistle, his decisions were frustrating; at one point All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor looked like he was going to pop with fury.
Until Wallace Sititi and Cam Roigard scored tries for the All Blacks in the final quarter, the Irish were well and truly in the fight, and anyone who was waving an All Blacks flag in the huge NFL stadium had good reason to be anxious when glancing at the scoreboard.
Barrett, unfortunately, had company in the injury ward as he viewed this scratchy spectacle.
Younger brother, Jordie, a joint vice-captain and one of the lynchpins of the midfield, was hurt early when a tackle by an opponent inflicted damage on his knee. Scott, meanwhile, has suffered a gash to his lower leg.
The injuries to the Barrett brothers, two key members of the leadership group, was the last thing the All Blacks needed as they got their teeth into the Grand Slam tour but, at least, they didn't have to look across and see their older sibling, Beauden, sitting alongside them inside the dugout.
First five-eighth Beauden Barrett was on the receiving end of his share of dings in this match, copping a blow to the head on several occasions, but was never ordered from the field for a head injury assessment.
There were plenty of reasons to be thankful that the senior Barrett was able to remain on the track, and All Blacks coach Scott Robertson would have been grateful that the man in the No 10 was able to exert influence when he played a crucial part during the lead-up to the decisive try scored by Sititi in the 66th minute.
Because it was Beauden Barrett who drifted across in the face of the Irish defence prior to putting Damian McKenzie into a hole, with the latter screaming into vacant territory and then feeding an inside pass to Sititi whose five-pointer extended the All Blacks lead to six points with the conversion to come.
Both impact players, McKenzie and Sititi, justified Robertson's call to go to the bench down the home straight as the All Blacks finished with more intent and speed against a rusty Irish side.
This game was in the balance until Sititi scored - a late try to halfback Cam Roigard in the 77th minute sealed the deal - and the All Blacks may be grateful to fly out of the United States and to Edinburgh, where they will play Scotland next weekend.
This was, for long periods, an ugly spectacle that must have had many Americans in the 62,000-strong crowd asking if the rule book was written by a crazy professor on the back of a five-day bender.
The departure of Scott Barrett, who was replaced by Josh Lord, meant Fabian Holland took over the role of senior lock and he was excellent.
No 8 Ardie Savea, forced to take charge as skipper, was quickly required to go into damage control when Scott Barrett exited.
Despite Ireland lock Tadgh Beirne receiving a red card - a controversial decision that must have had Irish coach Andy Farrell puffing balls of fire - for a relatively innocuous shoulder contact into the head of All Blacks No 10 Beauden Barrett, it was the Irish who piled on the points despite being reduced to 14 players for 20 minutes.
A try to tighthead prop Tadgh Furlong was sandwiched between goal kicker Jack Crowley's contributions with the boot, the latter drilling a penalty and conversion to punch his side ahead 10-0 on the scoreboard.
It was appropriate, then, that it was Savea who drew first blood for the All Blacks a couple of minutes later.
Savea, who crashed over on the right edge, was the benefactor of a sweeping movement which involved a linebreak by Leicester Fainga'anuku, who replaced second five-eighth Jordie Barrett in the 16th minute.
Beauden Barrett's successful conversion iced the Savea try and, as it turned out, brought down the curtain on ugly first half that lasted around 55 minutes.
The All Blacks, finally, got their game going in the final quarter. But it was a tough watch. And not a great advertisement for rugby in the States.