Paul O’Connell Explains Why The All Blacks Played A Physical Game Against Ireland

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Paul O’Connell has had his say on the Ireland and All Blacks game this past weekend.

Speaking to the Second Captains podcast, former Ireland and Lions captain, O’Connell said that while he doesn’t think the heavy challenges were a premeditated attempt to attack Irish players, Fekitoa and Cane should have been shown a red and yellow card respectively.

He also pointed to some incidents that New Zealanders can feel aggrieved about – Johnny Sexton’s tackle on Beauden Barrett and Andrew Trimble’s knock on – while also suggesting that the pressure to perform caused some All Blacks to ‘go over the edge’.

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“They were under a bit of pressure and they did go over the edge,” O’Connell told host Eoin McDevitt.

“A lot of teams do it. I suppose it shows that the pressure gets to everyone. They really needed to win and they really wanted to win, and in trying to do that they went over the edge. I’ve been part of teams that have done it before and I’ve done it myself before.

“It just goes to show that they’re human.”

Is O’Connell right? Have Ireland proved that the All Blacks are indeed human?

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