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All Blacks legend accuses Irish star of sneaky cheating during defeat

Published 16:17 22 Jul 2026 BST

Updated 16:17 22 Jul 2026 BST

SportsJOE
All Blacks legend accuses Irish star of sneaky cheating during defeat

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He has a point...

There was a lot of anger from Irish fans following the the rugby team's defeat to New Zealand last weekend.

The officials got two big calls wrong, which could have had a big bearing on the outcome, despite the availability of video replays.

However, New Zealand media have hit back through The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby: Australia & New Zealand, with Justin Marshall going in on Ireland and their 'whingy' ways.

Now ex-All Black winger John Kirwan has come out and accused Ireland second row Joe McCarthy of cheating during the game, by attempting to slow the game down while the clock was off by 'faking' an injury.

In fairness to Kirwan he has a point, as McCarthy got up straight away and back in the line when the referee asked Ireland's doctor to treat the lock on the sidelines while he got the game back underway.

Gamesmanship for sure, to get your side a breather, but cheating might be a bit strong.

Kirwan said: "It's something that I want every single referee to look at, because we need this in South Africa.

"In the 53rd minute, the Irish lock goes down and fakes an injury. Fakes an injury. You notice this when some props go down and fake an injury because they're too tired.

"The referee said to the guy 'go off the back of the field and fix the guy up', this is the two guys.

"He got up, the lock got up and went straight back into the defensive line. It was what I call 'cheating', right?

"The referee said 'get off the field and fix him up'. I want to see more of that."

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