Ireland coach Ged Corcoran believes the decision not to send Jared Waerea-Hargreaves off for a high tackle he labelled a 'dog shot' during Saturday's (NZ time) Rugby League World Cup clash altered the outcome of the match at Leeds.
New Zealand ran away with a 48-10 win against a valiant Irish side at Headingley Oval in an unconvincing effort marred by Waerea-Hargreaves' wreckless hit on Dan Norman.
In the 38th minute, the Sydney Roosters veteran's swinging arm appeared to graze debutant Norman's shoulder en route to his jaw, with replays prompting immediate fears he'd be given his marching orders.
He eventually escaped with a sinbinning, which Corcoran later deemed a fortunate break for the Kiwis, who he felt were ripe for the picking.
"I've got to be careful with what I say, but really disappointed with that dog shot," Corcoran said during his post-match interview.
“For me, that’s a game changer, they had an off night for me. My boys turned up.
"It's a hard one to swallow. I need to look at that and review it, but it would have been a game changer for us."
Despite their numbers disadvantage, Ronaldo Mulitalo scored almost immediately after Waerea-Hargreaves had left the field to give the Kiwis a 24-6 lead at the interval, before running away with the contest in the second half.
Nevertheless, Corcoran was adamant the result would have been very different had the Kiwis been reduced to 12 men for more than a half of the contest, as he steadfastly claimed they should have been.
"It's a clear shot to the head, never mind the neck," he added. "It's a reckless challenge.
"It's a clean shot, it's ended [Norman's] night, it's ended his debut. The kid has dreamt of this from a child and to end his debut like that, there's nothing worse."
Entering as heavy underdogs, the winless Wolfhounds ran in two tries and at times had the New Zealanders flustered with their swarming rush defence.
"I think we challenged them at times with 13 v 13. If they drop to 12, it changes their system and how they play systematically.
"I'm not taking anything away from the boys. They dug in, I'm really proud of them and they've challenged them.
"If that's the benchmark for New Zealand, then let's see how they go for the rest of the tournament."
"I hope [New Zealand] win it. I wish them the best of luck and I think there will be other teams that will be licking their lips after tonight’s game."
No stranger to suspension during his long career, Waerea-Hargeaves seems destined to cop at least a one-game ban for his indiscretion, which would rule him out of their likely quarter-final clash with Fiji next weekend, with a semi-final awaiting against Australia a week later.
Kiwis coach Michael Maguire dismissed the suggestion of a suspension, inisting they'd have to simply "go through the process".
"We'll have to wait and see but I think he'll be alright, to be honest," said Maguire.
"If you see the first contact it sort of hit him on the shoulder and rolled up… that's what I saw."
Despite his team's disjointed display, Maguire remained confident the New Zealanders were building well for the knockout stage of the tournament.
"There are obviously areas there that, as a team, we need to chat about," he admitted.
"But I thought from a defensive point of view, we were quite strong in that area
"I just think we need to adapt a little bit more with our attack, which we've spoken about. But we've taken another good step forward to where we want to head."
