Rugby World Cup Preview: New Zealand v Ireland

Booking a first ever Rugby World Cup semi-final berth is what is driving Ireland on as they gear up to face defending champions New Zealand at Tokyo Stadium.

RUGBY WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL: Saturday, October 19

NEW ZEALAND (1st, Pool B) v IRELAND (2nd, Pool A), Tokyo Stadium, 7.15pm local time/11.15am Irish time (live eir Sport 1/RTÉ 2/UTV/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio 5 Live/IRFU Live Blog)

Team News: Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made three personnel changes for today’s eagerly-awaited Rugby World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand, the world’s number one team.

Garry Ringrose replaces the suspended Bundee Aki in midfield, with Robbie Henshaw moving to inside centre, while the vastly-experienced Rob Kearney comes back in at full-back for his 95th Ireland cap.

Vice-captain Peter O’Mahony is also restored to the back row, with his Munster colleague Tadhg Beirne dropping back to the bench. Captaining Ireland for the 38th time, hooker Rory Best will make his 15th Rugby World Cup appearance.

Behind the scrum, Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray will become Ireland’s most-capped half-back pairing of all-time. They first lined out together against the USA at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Sexton and Murray overtake Munster greats Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer as they are paired together as starters for Ireland for the 56th time.

Twelve of the starting XV for tonight’s clash also started in the 16-9 victory over New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium last November. Henshaw and Murray both missed that match through injury and Iain Henderson started on the bench.

Speaking ahead of the game, Schmidt said: “The unfortunate thing about any 23 that comes up against the All Blacks is that they can play very well and still not get the result. That’s the quality that the All Blacks have – that’s the athletes that they possess.

“But one of the things is that they (the Ireland players) have connected up very well. They have had some pretty successful experiences together. There are a number of players within that side who have contributed to a fair bit of history for us.

“Obviously, the first win over the All Blacks, the first time we won at home against the All Blacks, but a few other milestones along the way. A lot of those players that are selected were in Australia last summer, were in South Africa the summer before when we won in Cape Town.

“So the accumulation of those experiences together hopefully builds a bit of confidence – because you need to have some belief. You can’t go out against an All Blacks side and accept that you’re second fiddle. You’ve got to go out and put your best foot forward and we hope that this 23 will be committed to doing that.”

He added: “There’s probably four or five – or maybe half-a-dozen – reasonably tight selection decisions and you weigh up the experience, the previous performances against particular opposition and the combinations.

“But you can’t guarantee that you’ve got any decision right until the game is completed. Obviously, with Bundee missing out, that clarified the midfield a little bit but Chris Farrell has been very good for us. In his performance against Scotland, he really came on and made an influential impact.

“On the wings, Andrew Conway has been very good as well, so the outside backs are a bit of a conundrum. In the loose forwards (there is) Jordi Murphy’s versatility, the fact that he is two from two playing against the All Blacks.

“We’ve tried to add up as best we can the combinations that we think will best serve us in this particular fixture.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has made three changes to the side that ran out 71-9 winners over Namibia a week-and-a-half ago. That proved to be their final pool game as their next fixture against Italy was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.

Shannon Frizell, Jordie Barrett and Ben Smith are the players to make way as captain Kieran Read, Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett all return at number 8, out-half and full-back respectively.

There are seven changes to the New Zealand line-up from last November’s 16-9 loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium. Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock will extend their All Blacks record for starts together in the second row to 53.

The defending World Cup champions reached the knockout stages in Japan as Pool B winners, a point ahead of South Africa. Hansen said: “There’s a lot of energy and excitement in the team which is normal for this stage of the tournament where the winner-takes-all. It will add extra pressure to both sides.

“We feel we’ve selected a great mixture of talent in our 23, who are in great form, and the squad includes many players who have a lot of Rugby World Cup knockout match experience.

“Together with our experienced management team, that brings a deep understanding of what is needed to get the job done. Past Rugby World Cup history is important because of the positive or negative experiences you’ve had. But ultimately it is what happens on the day that counts.”

NEW ZEALAND: Beauden Barrett (Blues); Sevu Reece (Crusaders), Jack Goodhue (Crusaders), Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs), George Bridge (Crusaders); Richie Mo’unga (Crusaders), Aaron Smith (Highlanders); Joe Moody (Crusaders), Codie Taylor (Crusaders), Nepo Laulala (Chiefs), Brodie Retallick (Chiefs), Sam Whitelock (Crusaders), Ardie Savea (Hurricanes), Sam Cane (Chiefs), Kieran Read (Crusaders) (capt).

Replacements: Dane Coles (Hurricanes), Ofa Tuungafasi (Blues), Angus Ta’avao (Chiefs), Scott Barrett (Crusaders), Matt Todd (Crusaders), TJ Perenara (Hurricanes), Sonny Bill Williams (Blues), Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes).

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).

Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France), Angus Gardner (Australia)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

Pre-Match Quotes: Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) –

It’s been a long time in the back of our minds. The likelihood always going to be a case that if we got through our pool we’d play South Africa or New Zealand, and we’re here now. It’s a little bit surreal, it’s a little bit, ‘I can’t believe it’s finally here’.

“This time four years ago I was a spectator and it’s not a great place to be. So I’m really looking forward to going out there on the biggest stage and trying to show what we can do against the best team in the world, a team that hasn’t lost for two World Cups.

“So it’s going to be an enormous challenge, but one we’re really excited about and we’ll be trying to make the people at home really proud.

“When we started off you wouldn’t have believed that we’d have gone on and played this many games (56) together. It was like two strangers, we were almost introducing ourselves to each other in the first few games. But we’ve gone from strength to strength.

“Conor is a top-quality operator. It’s been a pleasure to play alongside him and I hope that we get many more together.

“At the end of the World Cup you guys will probably start calling for our heads because we’ll be too old and the next batch has to come through – you can see it already. But we hope we’ve got a few more years left together.”

Kieran Read (New Zealand) –

We know how close the games have been over the last few years and it’s an exciting challenge. The fun part is Saturday, so really looking forward to it.

“You know the Irish are a really good side. Perhaps they haven’t played to their potential through this World Cup but in a World Cup game, it’s whoever turns up on the day and it could only be a couple of opportunities that present themselves for either side.

“You’ve really got to embrace the emotions that will come. A finals game will certainly bring you a little bit more nerves, a little bit more pressure, which does create a bit of stuff in you physically, which is great to have.

“It’s important to mix that with a clear mind. I want the guys to be pretty fired up for this game but we’ll need to be in the right space.”

Pre-Match Stats Preview:

Head-To-Head –

– Since the 2015 Rugby World Cup, only two countries have beaten the All Blacks more than once: Australia and Ireland

– Ireland failed to beat New Zealand in their first 28 attempts, but have now won two of their last three
encounters with them

– Ireland can become the fifth northern Hemisphere team to beat the All Blacks at least three times, following France (12), England (7), the British & Irish Lions (7) and Wales (3)

– Ireland clinched their first victory over New Zealand in Chicago in November 2016. Ireland won 40-29

– From the current Ireland squad, Jordi Murphy, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Robbie Henshaw all scored tries in that match. From the current All Blacks squad, TJ Perenara, Scott Barrett and Ben Smith scored tries

– Ireland also beat New Zealand 16-9 at the Aviva Stadium last November. This was the most recent meeting between these teams

– In 104 Test matches during Steve Hansen’s tenure as head coach, the All Blacks have been restricted to a single-digit score once. That was during the 16-9 defeat by Ireland in 2018

– New Zealand won their only previous Rugby World Cup encounter with Ireland. That was a 43-19 win at Ellis Park in May 1995, in a World Cup pool game. Jonah Lomu scored the first two of his record 15 World Cup tries in that match

– New Zealand are the only World Cup opponents Ireland have faced yet never beaten

– Once before, Ireland met the reigning world champions in a World Cup match. In 2003, they faced Australia and lost

New Zealand –

– New Zealand are one of three teams to reach the knockout stages at all nine World Cups. The other two are Australia and France

– New Zealand have won a World Cup record 17 successive matches

– New Zealand have not lost a World Cup match since 2007, when they lost 20-18 to France in the quarter-finals. The All Blacks have won their last six matches in the knockout stages of the World Cup

– New Zealand are aiming for their third Rugby World Cup title in-a-row. They are already the only team to win six consecutive titles

– On an individual level, Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read and Sonny Bill Williams are all aiming to win an
unprecedented third World Cup title

–  The All Blacks need 41 points to become the first team in RWC history to reach 2,500 in the competition

– Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett and Scott Barrett all made their Test debuts against Ireland. Scott Barrett scored a try on debut

– Beauden Barrett needs seven points to overtake Grant Fox and move into third place on the New Zealand all-time list, behind Dan Carter (1,598) and Andrew Mehrtens (967). Barrett has 639 points in 80 appearances for the All Blacks

– Beauden Barrett (149) can become the third player after Carter and Mehrtens to kick 150 conversions for New Zealand

– Beauden Barrett has scored eight points in this World Cup. His brother Jordie has the joint-highest All Blacks total of 26 points (matching Richie Mo’unga). Scott has 10 points so far (two tries)

– Sonny Bill Williams is on the bench for the All Blacks. He holds the Rugby World Cup record for tries scored off the bench with four, twice as many as any other player

– He scored two against Japan in 2011, one against France in the pool phase the same year and one against Tonga four years ago

Ireland –

– Ireland have never made it past the quarter-finals at the Rugby World Cup

– Ireland were knocked out in the quarter-finals at six of the previous eight World Cups. They were also knocked out in a play-off (1999) and in the pool phase (2007)

– Ireland share the record for most RWC quarter-finals exits (six) with Scotland. Ireland can go out at this stage for a record seventh time

– Ireland have lost their six previous World Cup quarter-finals by an average margin of 17 points. They lost only one of the six by a single-digit margin (by one point against Australia in 1991)

– Joe Schmidt was born in New Zealand. Up to and including the 2019 pool stages, RWC head coaches had taken on their native country 12 times and lost every time (11 different coaches). Earlier on Saturday, Eddie Jones will attempt to beat his native Australia

– Rory Best will make his 15th World Cup appearance. The only Ireland players that have featured in more RWC matches are Paul O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll (both 17)

– Joey Carbery made his Test debut in Ireland’s first victory over the All Blacks, the 40-29 triumph in November 2016

– Jonathan Sexton and Tadhg Furlong have both won three matches against the All Blacks in their career. They can equal the record by players representing the home nations or Ireland (including the Lions) of winning four Tests against the All Blacks, set by Martin Johnson (England/Lions)

– Rory Best captains Ireland for the 38th time. Only Brian O’Driscoll (83) captained Ireland more often

– Ireland’s front row of Cian Healy, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong have been selected together for the 17th time. This is a record for any front row in matches since the 2015 Rugby World Cup

– Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray start together for Ireland for the 56th time, breaking the all-time record of 55 for Ireland, set by Munster greats Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer between 2000 and 2015.

Pre-Match Links –

Head-To-Head: Ireland v New Zealand

Sexton And Murphy Quarter-Final Preview

The Support Will Be Incredible – Best

In Pics: Ireland Training In Tokyo

Leading The Haka, Facing The Haka – Feek And Henshaw On New Zealand v Ireland

Schmidt And Best – Ireland Team Announcement Press Conference

‘It’s A Huge Challenge, We’re Looking Forward To It’ – Healy

Recent Meetings –

2013: GUINNESS Series: Ireland 22 New Zealand 24, Aviva Stadium

2016: Autumn Test: Ireland 40 New Zealand 29, Soldier Field, Chicago; GUINNESS Series: Ireland 9 New Zealand 21, Aviva Stadium

2016: GUINNESS Series: Ireland 16 New Zealand 9, Aviva Stadium

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