All Blacks punish Ireland in dominant Eden Park win

Nations Championship round three

Tries: Tuipulotu, Savea, Jordan, Aumua, McKenzie, Lienert-Brown Cons: Love 5

Tries: Conan, McCarthy, Keenan Cons: Prendergast 3

Ruthless New Zealand scored six tries to overwhelm Ireland and preserve their 32-year unbeaten run at Eden Park in a largely one-sided Nations Championship contest.

Buoyed by victories over France and Italy, the All Blacks punished a litany of first-half Irish errors as Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Asafo Aumua all crossed to secure the bonus point.

Ireland's solitary first-half score from Jack Conan came after Luke Jacobson was yellow carded for a dangerous clearout on Josh van der Flier, with the New Zealand flanker avoiding a red card following an off-field review.

Irish tries from Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan either side of the outstanding Damian McKenzie's score boosted the visitors' hopes of a losing and try bonus.

However, Anton Lienert-Brown's late score wrapped up an emphatic win for the three-time world champions, who stretched their undefeated Eden Park sequence to 53 Tests.

Having beaten Australia and Japan in their first two games, Ireland will leave Auckland empty-handed after their fourth successive loss to New Zealand and must wait until November to atone for a sloppy first-half performance.

New Zealand, meanwhile, will approach next month's four-Test series against South Africa with confidence after taking a maximum 15 points from their three home Nations Championship fixtures.

"Very proud of the men turning up here tonight and putting in a performance like that," said New Zealand captain Ardie Savea.

"I think it's all been in the mindset. We talked about throwing the first punch, and you know we got a lead in the first five minutes, so that was a start.

"You've got to give credit to the Irish, they're real quality. But we're stoked to get the win."

Nations Championship: Dominant New Zealand beat Ireland - reaction

All Blacks pounce on Irish errors

When Ireland last visited Eden Park in 2022, the All Blacks turned on the style to score four first-half tries in 17 minutes en route to a 42-19 win in the opening match of a three-Test series the Irish eventually won.

It was not all that different on Saturday. From the opening exchanges, the confidence gained from victories over France and Italy was clear as New Zealand pulled a scrambling Irish defence from pillar to post.

Frustratingly for Ireland, the first try came from their own carelessness in possession as James Ryan dropped the ball in the away side's first visit to New Zealand territory.

From there, the All Blacks quickly worked their way up the field and scored when the vastly experienced Tuipulotu took a pass from second-row partner Josh Lord, blasted past Keenan and touched down.

After Savea doubled New Zealand's advantage, Jacobson was sin-binned when his shoulder caught Van der Flier's head at a ruck, with the Chiefs flanker fortunate to avoid a 20-minute red following a review.

With Jacobson off the pitch, Conan powered over from close range for Ireland, but their hopes of pulling level before the break were dented when record All Blacks try scorer Jordan was gifted a try following a slack pass from Stuart McCloskey close to his own tryline.

Jordan has now scored 51 tries in 57 Tests and six in seven appearances against Ireland.

Replacement hooker Aumua's score two minutes before the break effectively killed the game as a contest.

McCarthy's early score in the second half brought Ireland back to within 14 points but they failed to build further momentum before McKenzie polished off a fine All Blacks move.

Fly-half Ruben Love, starting his third straight game with veteran Beauden Barrett again left out, converted fellow playmaker McKenzie's score to take his tally with the boot to 10 points.

Keenan's easy finish in the corner raised Ireland's hopes of at least securing a try bonus, but they failed to create another meaningful attacking platform before replacement back Lienert-Brown touched down with a minute to play to round out a commanding New Zealand display at their spiritual home.

While Ireland improved in the second half, head coach Andy Farrell will rue an error-riddled opening 40 minutes which left his side chasing a slick and cohesive All Blacks unit.

Following their first loss since this year's Six Nations opener to France, the Ireland squad will start the 2026-27 season with their provinces before hosting Argentina, Fiji and world champions South Africa in the northern hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship.