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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ben James

US President Joe Biden mixes up All Blacks with Black and Tans in embarrassing gaffe

US President Joe Biden appeared to confuse the All Blacks with the Black and Tans during a speech in Ireland on Wednesday.

The 80-year-old is currently on a trip around the Republic of Ireland, having visited Belfast and Northern Ireland first to deliver a speech to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement on Wednesday. He has since headed for the border for Dublin and County Louth, where the president can trace his roots back to.

However, while speaking in a pub in Dundalk, Biden made an embarrassing gaffe when paying tribute to a distant relative of his, former Ireland and Lions full-back Rob Kearney.

Biden publicly thanked Kearney for presenting him with the tie he had on, before referring to Ireland's famous victory over the All Blacks in Chicago back in 2016.

However, when it came to mentioning the All Blacks, Biden instead referred to New Zealand's rugby team as the Black and Tans, a group of British reserve troops who were notorious for their brutality during the Irish War of Independence.

"This was given to me by one of these guys, right here, was a hell of a rugby player," Biden said. "He beat the hell out of the Black and Tans."

Unsurprisingly, the error was picked up and circulated on social media, with many amused by the blunder.

The White House later corrected the "Black and Tans" error in the official transcript of the president's remarks.

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