Ireland 13-26 New Zealand: All Blacks win in Chicago after controversial Tadhg Beirne red card

Tadhg Beirne was shown a hugely controversial red card as Ireland fell to defeat vs New Zealand in Chicago

New Zealand's All Blacks earned their Chicago revenge on Saturday with a 26-13 victory at Soldier Field after a highly controversial Tadhg Beirne 20-minute red card.

Beirne was dismissed for a third-minute high tackle on Beauden Barrett, for which he was shown yellow on the field of play but saw it surprisingly upgraded to red after a bunker review.

Andy Farrell's side initially responded superbly to the heavy blow of going down a player for half of the first period, going 10-0 ahead via the boot of Jack Crowley and a Tadhg Furlong try.

Ardie Savea scored a crucial try with Ireland still down to 14 players to narrow the gap to 10-7, and though Crowley stretched the difference to 13-6 in the second period, two New Zealand tries in five minutes via Tamaiti Williams and Wallace Sititi saw them into a two-score lead.

Scrum-half Cam Roigard then made sure of victory with a fourth New Zealand try in the closing stages.

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Ireland versus New Zealand has developed into a genuine rivalry in recent years, with each side beginning the day with five wins apiece from the past 10 meetings, including the previous clash in the United States.

Following a big build-up, this encounter was more scrappy than scintillating, not helped by frequent stoppages which often quelled the capacity crowd.

Iain Henderson eventually replaced Beirne before Caelan Doris made his first appearance since suffering a shoulder injury in May after James Ryan was temporarily forced off for a head injury assessment.

Ireland carried a 10-7 lead into the break, which Crowley increased by three points by slotting a straightforward penalty after missing an earlier attempt.

Ireland's Jack Crowley kicked them into a 13-7 advantage, but they couldn't hold on

New Zealand had been well below their free-flowing best but led for the first time in the 63rd minute when Barrett added the extras after replacement prop Williams bulldozed over.

Scott Robertson's team quickly added a third try to take control of the contest.

Barrett brilliantly held his pass for the charging Damian McKenzie, who raced into Ireland's 22 and popped the ball to Sititi to claim his maiden Test try, with the successful conversion making it 21-13.

Scrum-half Roigard wriggled over to extinguish any prospect of an Ireland fightback as Farrell's first match leading Ireland since his sabbatical with the British and Irish Lions ended in defeat ahead of Dublin appointments with Japan, Australia and South Africa.

Farrell bemoans 'mental lapses'

Farrell as left disappointed by his side's lapses in concentration during the defeat.

He told the BBC: "It's what we talked about before the game, it's mental switch-offs, mental sharpness, lapses of concentration for two or three seconds, and you get hurt.

"It's something that we were aware of before the game, and it's something that you learn over the course of a season to get better at, but, if you want to win big games like this, on big occasions like here in Soldier Field, that's what it's going to take, and we weren't good enough.

Ireland lost Farrell's first match since his return from coaching the British and Irish Lions

"I'm disappointed to lose any game. When you play a top-tier side, a world-class side like New Zealand, you always want to judge yourself against that type of opposition, and then you put the occasion and all that together and it hurts a little bit more.

"Understanding why that happened is obviously key for us now, and addressing all that, and making sure that we move forward pretty quickly for what is obviously a pretty important autumn coming up."

Sheehan: A bitter pill to swallow

Ireland captain Dan Sheehan to TNT post-match:

"It's a bitter pill to swallow. To be honest, I don't think we really got going. We saw very small patches of what we were looking for but we couldn't put the whole picture together.

"I thought we were operating about 80 per cent coming into that half-time period. We looked to get a bit extra going into that second half. At times we did but there was a lot of inaccuracies at the breakdown and with discipline, so there's a lot to work on. Hopefully we can bounce back next week and turn it around.

"No [not undercooked], we said going in that we weren't going to use that as an excuse and our training the last two weeks has been physical and been good. We thought we were in a good spot but things didn't click for us today and we'll have to have an honest review of that."

All Blacks player of the match Fabian Holland to TNT post-match:

"It was a massive game for us. Credit to Ireland, they are a quality side and we are stoked to get the win. Credit to our boys, they were awesome.

"It was massive. We knew what that meant to Irish rugby and we just wanted to make a statement at the start of this tour. Hopefully we were able to do that. We talked all week about backing each other up and that's what we did."

What's next?

Ireland next face Japan on Saturday November 8 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (12.40pm kick-off).

New Zealand travel to face Scotland at Murrayfield for their second clash on Saturday November 8 (3.10pm kick-off).