The Aviva Stadium will be a cauldron of noise for the visit of New Zealand as Joe Schmidt’s Ireland look to claim the scalp of the reigning World champions for the second time in as many weeks.
2016 GUINNESS SERIES: Saturday, November 19
IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND, Aviva Stadium, 5.30pm (live RTÉ 2/Sky Sports 2 HD/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: There is just one change to the Ireland team that beat the All Blacks 40-29 in Chicago, with Sean O’Brien coming in at openside flanker for the injured Jordi Murphy (knee).
Rory Best will win his 99th cap – becoming Ireland’s fifth most-capped player of all-time – when he leads out the team on Saturday. He is partnered in the front row by Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong, with Devin Toner and Donnacha Ryan combining again in the second row.
Vice-captain Jamie Heaslip will make his 90th Ireland appearance, leading a powerful back row that includes O’Brien, who played 67 minutes against Canada last Saturday, and CJ Stander. The trio’s only previous start together was against France last February when a hamstring injury forced O’Brien off midway through the first half.
Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton fill the half-back positions, with the key duo responsible for 54 of the last 91 points Ireland have scored against the All Backs – Murray with three tries in four games and Sexton booting 36 points (six conversions and 8 penalties).
Robbie Henshaw, the scorer of the clinching try at Soldier Field, and Jared Payne continue their centre partnership, and full-back Rob Kearney and wingers Andrew Trimble and Simon Zebo resume in the back-three – Ireland’s most experienced combination on the pitch with 163 caps between them.
Paddy Jackson is named in the replacements having started against Canada, while his Ulster colleague Iain Henderson, who has shaken off a shoulder injury, returns to the squad on the bench. Neither Jackson or Henderson have played against New Zealand before.
The other replacements are Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Josh van der Flier, Kieran Marmion and Garry Ringrose, who all got game-time against Steven Hansen’s men in Chicago apart from Marmion and Ringrose. Ultan Dillane has missed training this week with a sore knee, while Keith Earls is nursing a dead leg.
Commenting on the one and only change in personnel, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt said: “We thought it was probably better that Sean starts rather than come off the bench. He needs to feel his way into the game a little bit, to get a run straight from the warm-up into the game.
“Whereas Josh (van der Flier) has been with us for a bit longer, obviously came to Chicago, spent that time with us and did such a good job off the bench that his versatility, his engine at the end of the day might serve us well. So it was really just trying to keep the balance there.”
Meanwhile, the New Zealand team to face Ireland in their Dublin rematch shows five personnel changes to the side that lost 40-29 to Schmidt’s men in Chicago.
In the forwards, the front row from the first Test against Ireland of props Joe Moody and Owen Franks and hooker Dane Coles, has been bolstered by the return of senior locks Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock.
Captain Kieran Read returns at number 8, while last week’s skipper against Italy, Sam Cane, is alongside him in the number 7 jersey for his 40th Test. Regular blindside flanker Jerome Kaino has been ruled out with a mild calf strain, so Liam Squire will make his third start in eight Test appearances.
Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett will start their eighth Test of 2016 as the All Blacks’ half-back pairing, while centres Anton Lienert-Brown and Malakai Fekitoa, who touched down twice in Rome, will play their second successive international together in midfield.
Ben Smith is at full-back and Israel Dagg on the right wing for what will be the 60th Test for both players, with Julian Savea in his regular left wing position. The replacements bench comprises of forwards Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Scott Barrett (in his third Test of the tour) and Ardie Savea, with TJ Perenara, Aaron Cruden and Waisake Naholo selected as the reserve backs.
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen said: “As expected, there is huge excitement and anticipation within our squad ahead of this weekend’s Test against the Irish. While there was obvious disappointment at the loss in Chicago, disappointment doesn’t win Test matches – it’s about having great preparation and attitude, and delivering on the day.
“We know the challenge we face from Ireland will again be massive and we are going into the game as the underdogs. They’ll be full of confidence and committed to delivering on their home patch.
“So we will have to take a massive step up to get the performance we are looking for. It is a challenge that this team needs right now and how we respond will tell us a lot about ourselves. As I said, we are very much looking forward to Saturday.”
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Jared Payne (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).
Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster).
NEW ZEALAND: Ben Smith (Otago/Highlanders); Israel Dagg (Hawke’s Bay/Crusaders), Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland/Highlanders), Anton Lienert-Brown (Waikato/Chiefs), Julian Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes); Beauden Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes), Aaron Smith (Manawatu/Highlanders); Joe Moody (Canterbury/Crusaders), Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes), Owen Franks (Canterbury/Crusaders), Brodie Retallick (Bay of Plenty/Chiefs), Sam Whitelock (Canterbury/Crusaders), Liam Squire (Tasman/Highlanders), Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty/Chiefs), Kieran Read (Canterbury/Crusaders) (capt).
Replacements: Codie Taylor (Canterbury/Crusaders), Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury/Crusaders), Charlie Faumuina (Auckland/Blues), Scott Barrett (Canterbury/Crusaders), Ardie Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes), TJ Perenara (Wellington/Hurricanes), Aaron Cruden (Manawatu/Chiefs), Waisake Naholo (Taranaki/Highlanders).
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Ian Davies (Wales)
Television Match Official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland to win: 6/1; Draw: 40/1; New Zealand to win: 1/8
Pre-Match Quotes: Rory Best (Ireland) – “There’s been a lot made of the two second rows coming in (for New Zealand). Look, they’ve brought in two world class second rows but they’re lost Jerome Kaino, a world class player who obviously played the last time out.
“For us it’s about making sure we perform. We’ve got Sean (O’Brien) coming back in and he has got a standard to try to get beyond that Jordi (Murphy) delivered for 20 minutes and Josh (van der Flier) delivered to 60 minutes, so we have a bit of competition ourselves.
“We can’t control who they pick and how they play. We can only control how we perform and how we react to situations and how we prepare and by and large we’ve prepared well.
“We’re back at home now and we expect a level of performance here and while Chicago will be something we look back fondly on when we retire, ultimately it’s about the here and now.
“The here and now is the All Blacks on Saturday at 5.30 and producing a performance, and ultimately we’re in the business of results and that’s what we want to get.”
Kieran Read (New Zealand) – “We know what it means to lose and how much it hurts the pride of yourself and the group but it’s great to re-calibrate what we want to achieve as a group and a loss can certainly magnify that.
“You never want to go through a loss to ensure you get those lessons but we have and I have been really pleased with the way the guys have responded so far. We’ll find out (on Saturday) how much we’ve got from them.
“It doesn’t get any easier, it’s probably harder than Chicago playing at Aviva. It’s about the guys staying calm enough to process decisions.
“Our group is well versed to applying pressure to opposition teams and when the pressure is exerted on ourselves you’ve just got to be able to react positively to that and ensuring the guys are as calm and clear as possible.”
Pre-Match Links –
Head-To-Head: Ireland v New Zealand
In Pics: Ireland Captain’s Run At The Aviva Stadium
Ireland Enters Candidate Phase For RWC 2023
In Pics: Ireland Training At Carton House
Recent Meetings –
2012: Summer Tour Second Test: New Zealand 22 Ireland 19, AMI Stadium, Christchurch; Summer Tour Third Test: New Zealand 60 Ireland 0, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
2013: GUINNESS Series: Ireland 22 New Zealand 24, Aviva Stadium
2016: Autumn Test: Ireland 40 New Zealand 29, Soldier Field, Chicago
Support Ireland on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #TeamOfUs, #ShouldertoShoulder and #IREvNZL on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.
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