DUBLIN: The All Blacks might be launching a charm offensive in Ireland, but not all Irish eyes are smiling at the arrival of a rugby powerhouse yet to lose a Test against the men in green.
The Irish Independent's Vincent Hogan has panned the All Blacks' use of the haka, revelled in their sequence of World Cup failures since 1987 and revisited Brian O'Driscoll's injury-enforced demise on the British and Irish Lions tour in 2005 in a wide-ranging column headed "All Blacks 'Aura' Can't Mask Their Own Failings".
"Outside of their own, few people love the All Blacks," Hogan wrote. "New Zealand victories are, by and large, statements of power. They smash teams, then run a bus over their bodies. They play through a vaguely malignant stream of intimidation.
"So seeing them get nailed is one of rugby's great redemptive offerings. It's like watching the school ruffian pick the wrong fight and end up with a nosebleed."
NZPA
