Ireland's under-20s fought bravely but had to settle for fourth place in the Junior World Cup after New Zealand stretched out to a 45-23 win in the third place play-off.
Mike Ruddock's side had led 23-21 at half-time, with Ross Byrne kicking three penalties and converting a penalty try and an opportunist effort from prop Oisin Heffernan.
For the Baby Blacks, Tevita Li had managed two tries in that half, and Richie Mo’unga another, Damien McKenzie converting all three.
After the interval, though, New Zealand's class told, and they scored four further tries.
James Tucker touched down on 50 minutes, then Mitchell Drummond got a five-pointer.
Cian Kelleher's yellow card on the hour mark, for playing the ball from an offside position, put Ireland under further pressure.
Richie Mo’unga then got a second before Lachlan Boshier put a gloss on the victory in the 79th minute.
Meanwhile, England retained their JWC title with a nail-biting 21-20 victory over South Africa in the final at Eden Park in Auckland.
The defending champions trailed 10-3 after 20 minutes following a try from South Africa back Jesse Kriel but England responded with a brace of scores from Nathan Earle and replacement Joel Conlon to take a 21-13 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
The Junior Boks reduced the deficit to one point with a second try from Kriel but England held out for the final quarter-of-an-hour - surviving a missed drop-goal from South Africa captain Handre Pollard - to reclaim the trophy they won after beating Wales in France last year.
Pollard was named the IRB Junior Player of the Year 2014 ahead of England wing Nathan Earle, Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and New Zealand wing Tevita Li.
Ireland scorers
Tries: Penalty try, Oisin Heffernan; Cons: Ross Byrne 2; Pens: Ross Byrne 3
New Zealand scorers
Tries: Tevita Li 2, Richard Mo'unga 2, James Tucker, Mitchell Drummond, Lachlan Boshier; Cons: Damian McKenzie 5
Ireland: Cian Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster); Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Harrison Brewer (Terenure College/Leinster), Alex Wootton (Garryowen/Munster); Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster); Peter Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dylan Donnellan (UCD/Leinster), Oisin Heffernan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Darragh Moloney (Cork Constitution/Munster), Ross Molony (UCD/Leinster), Peadar Timmins (UCD/Leinster) (capt), Rory Moloney (Buccaneers/Connacht), Frankie Taggart (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster).
Replacements: Max Abbott (Cork Constitution/Munster), Denis Coulson (Lansdowne/Leinster), Rory Burke (Cork Constitution/Munster), Stephen Gardiner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster), Ryan Foley (Lansdowne/Leinster), Conor McKeon (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dan Goggin (Young Munster/Munster).
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie; Vincent Tavae–Aso, Anton Lienert-Brown (Capt), TJ Faiane, Tevita Li; Richie Mo’unga, Mitchell Drummond; Atunaisa Moli, Epalahame Faiva, Tau Koloamatangi; James Tucker, Geoffrey Cridge; Tom Sanders, Lachlan Boshier, Mathew Peni.
Substitutes: James O’Reilly, Scott Mellow, Kyle Harris, Tim Cadwallader, Troy Callander, Josh Renton, Kaveinga Finau, David Havili.
