Autumn Internationals: Ireland coach Joe Schmidt dejected after last-gasp defeat to New Zealand
Joe Schmidt cut a disconsolate figure after Ireland suffered late heartbreak against New Zealand in Dublin.
Last Updated: 24/11/13 6:49pm
Ryan Crotty's last-gasp try denied Ireland their first ever victory over the All Blacks, with Aaron Cruden nailing the conversion at the second attempt to snatch a 24-22 win in Dublin.
Ireland coach Schmidt said: "You never feel the taste of victory in your mouth until the final whistle goes and we had to play to the final whistle and they got over in injury time.
"We have to accept that. It's a game of three that we wanted and it's a game that I felt we were up for.
"Thanks to support we had, it was unbelievable. I hope they are not too disappointed, I certainly know that we are.
"We were in possession with 20 seconds to go and were penalised for off our feet and we had to defend that last phase.
"You've got to be prepared to defend to the end and we didn't quite keep them out."
Reprieve
Cruden missed his initial conversion attempt but referee Nigel Owens handed him a reprieve after Ireland chased off their line early.
"A draw was a loss to us to be fair," admitted Schmidt. "We invested our time and energy in trying to win that game and I felt we went out with the right endeavour.
"We got some reward for our endeavour but we didn't get the reward in the end but we can't do much about that now.
"I felt we took a big step forward today. The measurement of progress will be if we can reproduce it and that'll be our challenge against Scotland in our Six Nations opener."
