International media have hailed the All Blacks' 46-14 quarter-final win over Ireland in Tokyo last night.
Halfback Aaron Smith celebrates after scoring a try for the All Blacks against Ireland at Tokyo Stadium. A journalist rates Smith as the best passer in the game. Photo: AFP
The victory means Ireland have now lost all seven of their World Cup quarter-finals.
Daniel Schofield in the Daily Telegraph wrote: "All eyes on them now after this most comprehensive of quarter-final victories, a seven-try rout of a side who had beaten them just 11 months ago.
"The scoreline may have had a similar feel to England's victory to Australia but the display was from a different planet. New Zealand feasted on Ireland's mistakes like a shoal of starving piranhas. And there were a lot of mistakes, more than in any other game of the [Ireland coach] Joe Schmidt era."
"Youthful exuberance was at the heart of a new-look New Zealand's stunning quarter-final win over their recent nemeses," Liam Napier reported for the Guardian.
"Sympathy is rarely felt for a rival rugby nation yet it was impossible to suppress pangs of exactly that emotion for Ireland. The cruel, crushing nature of this seventh World Cup quarter-final exit has never been so severely inflicted. As the Ireland coach, Joe Schmidt, exclaimed, the scars of this defeat will remain for some time. There could be no more brutal way to sign off his tenure."
He continued: "England will need to be at their absolute peak [in the semi-final] to contain the All Blacks' vast array of attacking threats. When at their best like this, they do the basic skills better and faster than anyone. Their catch, pass, clean-out, ball protection, carry and tackle against Ireland were all supreme."
He said Ireland's captain, Rory Best, had shared that his team-mates shed tears in the changing room afterwards.
Irish media were frank about their own team while praising the All Blacks.
The Irish Times reporter Gerry Thornley said the All Blacks dished out "a proper beating" to the Irish side. "Any tiny error was magnified by the unrelenting quality of the almost error-free All Blacks' attacking game."
Ewan MacKenna tweeted: "Rory Best looked terrified in anthem, rest of them look terrified since kick-off."
This is a humiliation. New Zealand are relentless and brilliant, but we can't even not knock the ball on. Rory Best looked terrified in anthem, rest of them look terrified since kick-off. @Shane_RossTD can start getting the lorry trailer ready on O'Connell St. #rugbyworldcup2019
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) October 19, 2019
Meanwhile, the Irish independent's columnist Roy Curtis wrote: "This was less a beating than a stripping down of a grand delusion, the one that fantasised that Ireland might inhabit the same rugby universe as New Zealand's dark knights."
For the BBC, Michael Morrow wrote that "not for a single minute of Saturday's contest did it look as though Ireland possessed the tools capable of derailing the champions".
"Indeed, it was New Zealand who produced what was infinitely closer to perfect rugby, taking their game to a level with which Ireland could not contend."
Beauden Barrett was among the try-scorers. Photo: AFP
Greg Stutchbury in the Sydney Morning Herald said All Blacks fans had no reason to worry their side might be underdone for the quarterfinal.
"Steve Hansen's side allayed those fears with a blistering and bruising performance where they constantly drove Ireland back at the breakdown and in the tackle and never allowed them to get their close-running game going.
"They also forced the Irish into numerous handling errors, particularly in contact inside their own half, destroying their momentum.
"After Smith scored his first try in the 14th minute following a sustained build-up, the All Blacks seized on two Johnny Sexton errors to put the game beyond doubt before half-time."
Rory Keane writing for the Mail Online said the All Blacks were simply sublime. "From the physicality of their tight five to the dynamism of Ardie Savea to the calm leadership of Kieran Read, they laid a platform for scrum-half Aaron Smith - who bagged a brace - and the dual playmaking combo of Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett to run the show. Their outside backs were operating on a different plain.
"Ireland were nervy, pedantic and error-strewn while their opponents were sharp, skilful and explosive."
He rated halfback Aaron Smith as the "best passer in the game" and said he inspired the All Blacks to drag "a frazzled Ireland from touchline to touchline".
"More World Cup heartache for Ireland, but New Zealand are looking strong favourites to secure a third consecutive World Cup. That semi-final against England next weekend should be a hell of a contest," he concluded.
