The All Blacks are anticipating a fierce atmosphere in Dublin as they take on the world No.1 and rivals Ireland tomorrow morning.
Ireland are looking to get revenge on the All Blacks for their narrow quarterfinal loss at the Rugby World Cup last year. The All Blacks held on to win 28-24 in Paris thanks to a turnover from Sam Whitelock in added time on the back of a heroic defensive effort by his side.
All Black captain Scott Barrett said the team were aware of the different challenge that Ireland posed at home in Dublin.
"It was one of the great matches of the Rugby World Cup last year and we know what Ireland will turn up with - a willingness to play and look to put us under pressure," said Barrett.
"This northern tour for us is huge for where we are as an All Black team," Barrett said. "It was a tough game last week and it’s probably going to be even tougher this week.
"It’s the nature of coming up north, we were at Twickenham last week and the atmosphere was amazing so it’s perfect preparation for this week, there’ll be similar hostility."
All Black captain Scott Barrett spoke to media ahead of their clash with Ireland in Dublin. (Source: 1News)
The All Blacks narrowly beat England 24-22 last week, with George Ford having the chance to win the match with a drop goal but sprayed his attempt wide of the posts.
"It’s a great confidence booster, but underneath all that we certainly know that we have to be better this week. There was a great buzz after the game, but that game could’ve easily gone either way. There's a lot of areas we have to improve on and we’ve addressed that this week."
Barrett said that Ireland are No. 1 in the world for a reason due to their ability to play with the ball in hand and their impressive short pass game.
"The two teams play a similar game - it’s going to be intense. Ireland have been right up there not just for the last few years but I think for the last 10 years they’ve been leading the way in a lot of areas."
Barrett was asked if there's any bad blood between the two sides.
"I guess there’s a bit of feeling, it’s Test match rugby with two teams that just want to get a result. Sometimes emotions can boil over and you’ve just got to be accurate with your game and not after the whistle."
The two sides have played 37 Test matches against each other with the All Blacks winning 31 of those, Ireland winning five and a draw.
Ireland’s first win over the All Blacks came in Chicago as they triumphed 40-29 in 2016. Since then they have beaten the All Blacks four more times, including a famous series win in New Zealand in 2022.
"We know it’s going to be an 80-minute effort. We’ve seen some great matches in the past, often going past the 80 minutes."
There is also a Kiwi connection between the two teams as Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and James Lowe are all New Zealand-born players that now represent Ireland.
Former member of Scott Robertson's Crusaders coaching group Andrew Goodman will also face off against his home nation as part of Ireland's coaching staff.
The referee for tomorrow morning's match is Australian Nic Berry.
All Blacks lineup:
1. Tamaiti Williams, 2. Asafo Aumua, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Scott Barrett (Captain), 5. Tupou Vaa’i, 6. Wallace Sititi, 7. Sam Cane, 8. Ardie Savea (Vice-Captain), 9. Cortez Ratima, 10. Damian McKenzie, 11. Caleb Clarke, 12. Jordie Barrett (Vice-Captain), 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Mark Tele’a, 15. Will Jordan
Reserves: 16. George Bell, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 20. Samipeni Finau, 21. Cam Roigard, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Stephen Perofeta
Ireland lineup:
1. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. James Ryan, 6. Tadhg Beirne, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris (captain), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 10. Jack Crowley, 11. James Lowe, 12. Bundee Aki, 13. Garry Ringrose, 14. Mack Hansen, 15. Hugo Keenan.
Reserves: 16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Peter O'Mahony, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Ciaran Frawley, 23. Jamie Osborne.
Saturday, 9.10am (NZ time).
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