Two tries in the opening seven minutes gave Ireland a great platform to have a cut at the Junior All Blacks but the gulf in class became apparent as the half progressed and in the end it finished in an eleven tries to three drubbing on a chastening night for Irish rugby. “There are a lot of learnings to take from that,” said McCarthy. “The way we started the game, we had New Zealand on the back foot straight from the kick-off but they got an easy try off kick-off and that gave them an easy entry into the game and it gave them momentum and we were on the back foot from then.” It seemed for a time in Calvisano that the Junior All Blacks would surpass their record 69-3 win over Ireland in this tournament in 2017 but after hitting 50 points in just 48 minutes, the scores dried up with the issue long decided in northern Italy. Now they will play off for the lower placings after finishing with 14 men as replacement loosehead Billy Bohan was red-carded three minutes from time to complete a miserable night for Neil Doak’s squad who finished bottom of the Six Nations earlier this year. Ireland enjoyed a dream start as they deservedly raced into a 12-0 lead after just seven minutes after taking the game to New Zealand from the outset. Oisin Minogue, scorer of a late unconverted try in the 18-16 loss to Italy, got over inside three minutes thanks to good work from out-half Tom Wood and a deft hack from the flanker before he scored in the left corner. Wood landed the touchline conversion for the perfect start. It got better four minutes later, Ireland building from the back from a couple of solid lineouts and centre Ciaran Mangan put new full-back Daniel Green over in the left. New Zealand hit with a few good drives which ended with No.8 Mosese Bason bursting over, with Will Cole’s conversion making it 12-7 after ten minutes. Ireland responded well, forcing four penalties in a row, two of which Ireland tapped before opting for the points when New Zealand’s lock Jayden Sa was binned, with Wood’s penalty pushing the lead out to 15-7. However, they failed to collect the restart with New Zealand centre Cooper Roberts pouncing on the bouncing ball and the move ended with the other lock Xavier Treacy scoring. Ireland No.8 Luke Murphy was held up over the line after they went to the left corner with a penalty and the Junior All Blacks then hit the front for the first time when Roberts scored from close range to make it 19-15. New Zealand’s strong running and superior handling skills started having a real impact and by the break they were 31-15 to the good with both half-backs Cole and Dylan Pledger scoring and Ireland ending the half with scrum-half Will Wootton in the bin for taking out his opposite number. The second half was a saga for Ireland. Wingers Frank Vaenuku and Maloni Kunawave, both New Zealand sevens internationals, tormented the Irish defence with strong jinking runs and astonishing handling skills. They pushed the lead out to 50-15 with three tries inside eight minutes of the restart, Vaenuku setting the tone when he bounced Green down the wing to score within a minute. Roberts and a superb offload from Kunawave put Pledger in for his second and replacement hooker Shaun Kempton burrowed over from a lineout. Kunawave got New Zealand’s ninth try after 66 minutes when he broke through the middle and stepped Charlie Molony without breaking stride to score under the posts. Replacement loosehead Bohan pulled back a try after several drives five minutes from time but from the restart he was sent off for a dangerous clearout on flanker Caleb Woodley and the Junior All Blacks turned the screw in the closing minutes with Kempton and Kunawave each getting their second tries. Scorers for New Zealand: Tries: D Pledger (2), S Kempton (2), M Kunawave (2), M Bason, X Treacy, C Roberts, W Cole, F Vaenuku. Cons: Cole (6), R Simpson. Scorers for Ireland: Tries: O Minogue, D Green, B Bohan. Cons: T Wood, S Wisniewski. Pens: Wood. New Zealand: R Simpson; F Vaenuku, C Roberts (J Cameron 54), J Wiseman, M Kunawave; W Cole (S Solomon 60-71), D Pledger (J Tamati 50); S Uamaki Pole (I Time 52), M Letiu (S Kempton 45), R Faleafa (D Johnston 52); X Treacy, J Sa (A Vakasiuola 46); F McLeod, C Woodley, M Bason (M Fale 45). Ireland: D Green (G O’Leary Kareem 61); C Molony, C Mangan, J Scott, D Moloney; T Wood (S Wisniewski 45), W Wootton (C Logan 56); A Usanov (B Bohan 49), H Walker, A Mullan (T McAllister 49); C Kennelly, B Corrigan (D Walsh 48); E McCarthy, O Minogue (L McLaughlin 61), L Murphy (B Power 52). Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa).