Past five games: Ireland 34 Scotland 14; Ireland 13 South Africa 8; Ireland 59 Tonga 16; Ireland 82 Romania 8; Ireland 17 Samoa 13.
Score prediction
New Zealand 34 Ireland 26
What’s on the line?
Everything. It’s as simple as that. The losers of Sunday’s match are knocked out of the Rugby World Cup. A win to Ireland would see them equal the 18-game winning streaks that the All Blacks and England share, but with that comes a lot of pressure – not to mention the fact Ireland have never won a World Cup quarter-final. In 2019, the All Blacks steamrolled Ireland in the World Cup quarter-finals and that’s sure to be front of their minds too.
For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, the All Blacks aren’t the favoured team heading into the match. In 2022, the series loss at home at the hands of the Irish will add fuel to the fire for the All Blacks but Ireland are sure to take a lot of confidence knowing they’ve had the better of the All Blacks recently, though that doesn’t concern coach Ian Foster.
“It doesn’t really interest me. I am not big on claiming underdogs or claiming favourites.”
Earlier this week, Foster said Ireland were a side the team knew well and vice versa but he said the game was going to come down to discipline defensively.
“It’s going to be about intensity at the breakdown and body height. And winning corners and stuff like that. We’ve got a pretty clear idea about the strengths they bring, but seeing them play live helped confirm some of those things. It’s just a layer of the painting you add on as you watch more and more games as the year goes on.
“They have got their game pretty well-organised, well-sorted. [They’re] on a massive winning streak. [They’ve] got a clear goal to create history for themselves in this tournament and probably are playing accordingly. So they’ll be confident, and I kind of love that challenge.”
The All Blacks also had the benefit of former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt in their camp as an assistant coach, and he and Foster shared the mindset of the All Blacks focusing on what they do well.
Meanwhile, imposing lock Brodie Retallick revealed he wouldn’t be drawing on the last loss to Ireland, the series-losing test in Wellington, as motivation for Sunday’s quarter-final. Having been involved in the previous two World Cups, which the All Blacks won in 2015 and finished third in 2019, Retallick said that experience was practical.
“You get the scoreboard pressure potentially, and there’s that side of the game. But as I touched on, you can’t get too distracted by those big ones and [stay] in the moment. I’ve seen plenty of teams come back from bad positions.
“I’ve been lucky enough to win in 2015 and then to get knocked out (in the semifinals four years ago), to feel the pain of not being in the final.
“We touched on 2019 before we left New Zealand as a team. Obviously, some guys haven’t experienced that and it’s a hard lesson to learn when you do. So our plan is obviously not to go through that pain this week.”
Retallick said Ireland had shown a propensity for sledging during games, something the All Blacks were aware of, as well as their loud supporters in the crowd.
“Those boys like chipping away. As long as it doesn’t become a distraction to your own game, then I don’t have a problem with it.
“If we are doing our job right, it keeps the crowd out of the game, but that’s one of the awesome parts about a World Cup, is how vocal and the enthusiasm the crowd bring.
“I’ve seen them singing the Cranberries [Zombie song, which has become a crowd favourite during this Rugby World Cup] - great song but hopefully, they are not singing on Saturday.”
Ireland’s side are due to be named tomorrow (Thursday), meanwhile, the All Blacks are set to be named on Friday but it appears the selectors have a full squad to choose from.
Match officials
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley, Christophe Ridley
TV match official: Tom Foley
Teams
All Blacks: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor 1 Ethan de Groot. Reserves: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Dalton Papali’i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jonathan Sexton (captain), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter. Reserves: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Jimmy O’Brien.
TAB odds
New Zealand $2.00 Draw $18.00 Ireland $1.80
How to follow the action
Listen to commentary: Join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio
You can also find live updates at nzherald.co.nz.
Get full coverage of the Rugby World Cup.
Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.
