Andy Farrell says Ireland need to fix the psychological flaws that made them “desperate” in their desperate defeat to New Zealand in Dublin.
The Six Nations champions slipped to a a disappointing 23-13 defeat in their Autumn Nations series opener after being penalized for a series of mistakes and repeated offences.
An investigation into the unprecedented display at the Aviva Stadium expected on Friday night will begin when the players return to camp on Sunday.
Head coach Farrell admits there is considerable room for improvement ahead of upcoming appointments with Argentina, Fiji and Australia.
Ireland’s 19-match winning streak was ended by New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium
“It’s not right to try and be desperate chasing your tail when you’ve made a mistake, whether it’s a penalty or a dropped ball, and combine that mistake with another mistake and all of a sudden the field position is gone and the points are gone. get away from it,” Farrell said.
“We did it a few times. We need to adjust our mindset as it relates to getting back into neutral and getting the ball back the way we want it.
“We got a little too desperate and as a result the energy wasn’t what it needed to be or the accuracy.”
Ireland need to regroup ahead of Argentina’s visit to Dublin on Friday
A deserved victory for New Zealand, backed by six penalties from Damian McKenzie and a try from Will Jordan, ended Ireland’s 19-match winning streak at home.
It also caused further misery for the hosts after the All Blacks’ 28-24 victory in last year’s World Cup quarter-final in France.
“We’re moving forward,” Farrell said. “We have to.
“We have to find solutions as soon as possible because we have a hungry team in Argentina (on Friday) who are playing really good rugby at the moment.
“We have to get back on the horse and start all over again, don’t we?”
Josh van der Flier scored Ireland’s only try on a disappointing night against New Zealand
With New Zealand center Geordie Barrett in the sin bin after a high tackle on Garry Ringrose, a Josh van der Flier try briefly threatened to turn the lopsided contest in Ireland’s favour.
But Farrell’s men paid a heavy price committing 21 handling errors, conceding 13 penalties and conceding 30 tackles, in addition to repeatedly finishing second in turnovers, lanes and lines.
“We’re going to get some responses on clarifications on some of them, but it doesn’t really matter if it was wrong or right,” Farrell said of the high penalties.
“We still had to restrain ourselves a little.”
New Zealand’s win builds on last weekend’s 24-22 win over England at Twickenham.
After the success, Kiwi center Rieko Ioan decided to stir the pot in his simmering feud with former Ireland captain Jonny Sexton.
The pair clashed after the All Blacks World Cup in Paris, with Sexton later detailing the exchange in his recently released autobiography.
“Write it in the book,” Ioan wrote on Instagram, alongside pictures of himself leading Haka.
