There is an old saying that there is no place to hide on a rugby field. Last week in the giant expanses of Eden Park, the Irish players were publicly examined and exposed. Disregard the flimsy excuses doing the rounds. Ireland were well and truly beaten by a superior and powerfully focused New Zealand. A few basic statistics tell us how starkly New Zealand dominated Ireland’s frailties. Ireland turned over possession a staggering 18 times. Meaning that against one of the best attacking systems in the world, Ireland gave them 18 extra possessions. Decisively, Ireland then missed a whopping 35 tackles. It is impossible to defeat any tier-one nation, let alone New Zealand at Eden Park, with those stats.Against both Australia and New Zealand, Ireland’s defensive intensity was well below elite standards.Ireland have now lost six tests in a row to New Zealand, South Africa and France by 10 points or more. Eden Park was also Irelands fourth consecutive loss to New Zealand. So much for the black jersey losing its aura.In big matches, the team that make the least mistakes win. Ireland’s mountain of errors and missed tackles allowed the Kiwis to impose their game plan on Ireland. New Zealand applied huge pressure to Ireland and, to state a hard fact, the green team cracked.The large number of dropped balls and poor passes, including the gifted try to New Zealand from a horrendous Stuart McCloskey pass, is testimony to this reality.New Zealand's Will Jordan celebrates after taking advantage of another Ireland blunder. Photograph: Brett Phibbs/Photosport/Inpho In the Nations Championship, Ireland have put in three highly inaccurate performances. If the Wallabies kickers, Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon, had landed any of their four missed attempts at goalin Sydney, then the last few weeks would have been an Irish disaster. Ireland did not win that test in Sydney, Australia lost it. In Tokyo, France showed how a top-class international team should demolish Japan. And in Auckland Ireland were a class below.As we look back on Ireland’s 2025-26 season, the excellent performance at Twickenham in this year’s Six Nations now appears to be the exception, in what has been a long run of below-par performances.When analysing the season, we have to take into consideration that the Lions tour has taken a grave toll on the Irish players. While the past year has been exceedingly demanding, no matter the reasons, Ireland’s performances have diminished.There were two big winners in the opening stanza of the Nations Championship. The competition itself has been a big success. The vast majority of the games have been spectacularly entertaining, skilful, positive and dramatic. Although much of the rugby world was sceptical before the opening matches, the quality of the performances means the “friendlies” of old will be transformed into vital contests.The other big winner was France. Acting like a counterweight to Ireland’s decline, Fabien Galthié’s side on the rise.Fabien Galthié's management style seems to suit France. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images Galthié left several of his senior players in France to recuperate and recover in advance of a World Cup year. After a weakened French team pushed New Zealand to the limit in Christchurch, Galthié displayed his lack of fear by experimenting with two playmakers against Australia and Japan. He played the in form outhalf Matthieu Jalibert at fullback, allowing Romain Ntamack to wear the number 10 jersey. Having both of these attacking weapons on the pitch at the same time was electrifying. The possibilities should frighten any opposition.The French appear to be the only nation that can match the South Africans with an exceptionally deep roster of players and a giant, aggressive pack in front of several of the game’s most creative individuals. The Nations Championship has shown us they are building a formidable squad capable of snatching the William Webb Ellis trophy.The big loser of the past three weekends has been Argentinian sport. The behaviour of several Pumas and their supporters towards referee Angus Gardner can only be described as appalling, disgraceful and reprehensible. Sadly, the Pumas’ disregard for postmatch sporting values was mirrored by the actions of their compatriots in their soccer team. The actions of both Argentina teams during and after their matches last weekend brought shame to their famous jerseys. The Irish community’s postgame reaction to defeat at Eden Park was also misguidedly focused on officials. Ireland supporters wrongly believed that New Zealand’s Luke Jacobson’s yellow card should have been red.[ Owen Doyle: Luke Jacobson not receiving a red card for reckless tackle was a shocker of a callOpens in new window ]Claims that Ireland did not win because Jacobson was not given a red card typify the current Irish echo chamber that is denying the reality of how poorly Ireland performed at Eden Park.The TMO replay clearly showed that as Jacobson entered into the clear-out, his right arm clipped James Ryan’s back. The contact stopped Jacobson’s arm from extending forward and slightly moved his body in the air. The TMO concluded that the contact with Ryan, before the contact with Josh van der Flier, created a mitigating circumstance that prevented Jacobson from wrapping his arm. So, the card was kept at yellow. At first viewing, I thought Jacobson’s actions deserved a red card, but after listening to the TMO’s explanation, I believe the reasoning was sound. A conclusion the vast majority of rugby pundits across the globe have agreed with.Claims that if the yellow card had been upgraded to red, the match would have swung towards Ireland are fanciful. Nothing would have changed the outcome because of the huge number of Irish errors. In the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup the blind loyalty of many in the Irish rugby community refused to acknowledge the reality of their team’s decline before the shock loss to Japan in the pool stages. The smell of that same irrational denial is in the air. This Irish team has not descended to the same depths as Joe Schmidt’s Ireland of 2019, but there is no doubt that they are now significantly behind New Zealand, France and South Africa.Before the next instalment of the Nations Championship in November, Ireland have a mountain of work in front of them. With a World Cup at the end of next season, time is short and the pressure is mounting.