New Zealand 48 Ireland 10: Jahrome Hughes steals show as Headingley clash goes to script

New Zealand – the best side on the planet according to the rankings – were as short as 1/500 with the bookmakers to make it three straight wins and effectively end the Wolfhounds' World Cup campaign.

Ireland's quarter-final hopes were left hanging by a thread after a damaging loss to Lebanon and they ran into the wrong team at the wrong time in Leeds.

Ged Corcoran's men produced a brave effort but that was never going to be enough against the fearsome Kiwis.

Classy half-back Jahrome Hughes stole the show following a slow start by Michael Maguire's team, scoring two tries himself and laying on several more before leaving the field after an hour with the job long since done.

A partisan crowd of 14,044 savoured every moment despite the scoreline, enjoying highlights in the shape of a Louis Senior double which took his tournament try tally to six.

Unfortunately for the Hull KR-bound winger, it is the end of the road for Ireland at this World Cup unless Jamaica pull off the mother of all shocks against Lebanon on Sunday.

The main objective for the Irish was to restore lost pride and they certainly did that.

The Headingley crowd belted out Ireland's Call and Corcoran's men responded after facing down New Zealand's Haka.

Sensing they would not get much joy through the middle, the Wolfhounds went to the edges early and almost hit the jackpot when Sydney Roosters half-back Luke Keary put Senior away down the right flank, only to see his pass ruled forward.

With points always likely to come at a premium against a team that only conceded 18 in their opening two games, Ireland were never going to turn down the chance to go for goal from a kickable penalty.

Ed Chamberlain duly made it 2-0 after 11 minutes but that only served to spark the Kiwis into life.

As brave as Ireland were in the opening exchanges, they did not help themselves with sloppy errors coming away from their own end.

The Wolfhounds could only bail water for so long before it turned into the Jahrome Hughes show.

The Melbourne Storm half-back benefited from tired goal-line defence to get New Zealand on the board and soon turned provider with a smart kick to the corner to give Jordan Rapana an easy finish.

Hughes continued to show his class, sending through a neat kick that was finished by Peta Hiku.

Just when it looked as if Ireland would not see the ball again for the rest of the half, Senior produced a moment of magic to bring the Headingley crowd to their feet.

He instinctively stuck out a hand to intercept a Briton Nikora pass and the ball stuck, allowing the speedster to race 40 metres to score a memorable try.

It was a moment to savour but normal service resumed when Hughes evaded Keary and Frankie Halton to put Hiku over for his second.

New Zealand were good value for their 20-6 lead and ramped up the intensity as half-time approached.

With Ireland powerless to prevent the Kiwis from smashing them back towards their own line, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves overstepped the mark and caught Dan Norman with a nasty high shot.

The New Zealand enforcer was in danger of seeing red on his return from a three-game ban but referee Robert Hicks only deemed the tackle worthy of a yellow card.

To compound Ireland's frustration, Ronaldo Mulitalo raced over in the corner to remove any doubt about the outcome.

Norman failed his HIA and Henry O'Kane suffered the same fate shortly after the interval to leave the Wolfhounds – already without first-choice props Liam Byrne and Jaimin Jolliffe as well as Robbie Mulhern – in damage limitation mode.

Rapana kicked off the second-half scoring after getting the benefit of the doubt from the video referee when there was a suggestion of a foot in touch before James Fisher-Harris strolled over.

Hughes’ last act was to score another silky solo try and Kenny Bromwich touched down Kieran Foran's kick following a fumble by Chamberlain.

At 44-6 with 15 minutes still left on the clock, there was a sense the worst was yet to come for the Irish.

But Senior was not having any of it, producing a lung-busting effort to put Mulitalo under pressure from Joe Keyes' deep kick and getting his reward when the New Zealand winger lost the ball in his in-goal area.

Ireland kept going until the end but the last word belonged to Joseph Manu, the full-back dancing through the Wolfhounds' defence to round off the scoring.

New Zealand: Manu, Rapana, Hiku, Nikora, Mulitalo, Brown, Hughes, J Bromwich, Smith, Fisher-Harris, K Bromwich, Asofa-Solomona, Tapine.

Substitutes: Papali'i, Foran, Waerea-Hargreaves, Liu.

Ireland: Myler, L Senior, Chamberlain, T King, I Senior, Keary, Keyes, Hasson, Cook, G King, Bentley, Halton, Michael.

Substitutes: O'Hagan, Rushton, Norman, O'Kane.

Referee: Robert Hicks.