New Zealand v Ireland - Teams and Prediction
PREVIEW: Coach Andy Farrell says Ireland won’t beat New Zealand at their impregnable fortress by keeping the score down, urging his team to attack in the Nations Championship Test at Eden Park.
*Also read: South Africa v Wales – Teams and Prediction
Ireland can leapfrog the All Blacks to second place on the world rankings if victorious in Saturday’s mouth-watering clash, the tourists’ final game of the season.
To do so, they’ll need to end the home side’s 52-match unbeaten run at the Auckland venue, something that Farrell says can’t be achieved by making it a focus to shut down New Zealand’s natural style.
“They’re a brilliant attacking side, and that’s probably never going to change, so you have to score points,” Farrell said on Friday.
“We’re confident in our own ability to score points, and we know that if we click and we put our best performance out there, that we can cause any team trouble.”
Both sides are unbeaten after two rounds of the new inter-hemisphere competition.
Ireland snuck past Australia 33-31 with a late try in Sydney before pulling clear late against Japan last week, winning 36-20 in Newcastle to extend their winning run to seven matches since February.
Dave Rennie’s first two Tests in charge of the All Blacks since succeeding Scott Robertson have resulted in home wins over France by 34-32 and Italy by 47-17.
All Blacks ‘DNA’
Although both performances had their share of New Zealand mistakes, Farrell was impressed by Rennie’s drive to introduce a ball-in-hand approach, with less focus on kicking.
He said attacking rugby “suits the DNA” of New Zealand players, highlighting the record number of tries scored by their teams this year in Super Rugby.
“I respect the way that Dave’s gone about his business in regards to how outspoken he’s been in the style of rugby that he wants to play,” Farrell said.
“I think he’s quite refreshing, actually. So it’s there for all to see.
“And he’s brought a bit of steel back to them as well. So it certainly makes them very dangerous.”
Ireland wing Robert Baloucoune has been recalled after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury.
Tadhg Beirne is added to the pack which started against the Wallabies, giving them a vastly experienced appearance, even without back-rower Caelan Doris and prop Andrew Porter, who missed the tour with injury.
Irish structure
Rennie said his team will be out to break up Ireland’s structured style.
“They’ve got a really good kicking game, and they’ll apply pressure through that,” he said.
“There’s a lot of detail within their attack. They’ve got a real good short passing game and they’re prepared to go multi-phase.
“Our job is to get them out of their comfort zone. We’re going to have to bar up big time at the set-piece and we’re pretty confident with the group we’ve got that we can apply pressure there.”
Rennie has named usual lock Tupou Vaa’i at blindside flanker to inject size to his pack.
He has omitted veteran flyhalf Beauden Barrett, again preferring young playmaker Ruben Love as playmaker between two teammates from the champion Hurricanes – scrumhalf Cam Roigard and midfielder Jordie Barrett.
2022 series
There are several players from both teams who were involved in Ireland’s maiden series win on New Zealand soil four years ago.
However, Rennie said that series hadn’t been mentioned in the leadup.
“We’re a different team and so are they.
“We’ve obviously had a look at their performances over the last couple of weeks, and they’ve got a good side and a lot of good combinations.
“Their guys have played a lot of footy together, so they’ll be tough.”
Players to watch:
For New Zealand: Will Jordan is in red-hot form and broke the All Blacks’ try-scoring record of 49 tries, held by Doug Howlett for the past 19 years, to reach 50; expect more. Josh Moorby, fresh off a Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes, also have no issue finding the whitewash, having scored 17 tries during the tournament. Tupou Vaa’i at flanker is an interesting choice, and he will have to adapt from his usual position as a Test lock.
For Ireland: Hugo Keenan is one of the best in the game under the high ball and can launch a counterattack from anywhere. Robert Baloucoune boasts a strong finishing ability. Eyes will be on Sam Prendergast, who appears to have rediscovered his mojo during the latter part of the United Rugby Championship season. In the pack, it will start up front, with captain Dan Sheehan at the heart of it, where the game could be won or lost.
Prediction:
Rugby365: New Zealand by 10 points
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Anton Segner, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Caleb Clarke
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadgh Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Tom O’Toole.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki.
Date: Saturday, July 18
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19.10 (08.10 IST; 07.10 GMT)
Expected weather: Cloudy with a high of 16 and a low of 11 degrees Celsius and winds of 17 kilometres per hour
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Damon Murphy (Australia)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
