“And that’s respect too, all respect and it would be no different on Saturday. We’re, we’re both gonna go at, go at each other for 80 minutes. We’ll be very happy to walk into the changing room and have a beer with them for sure.”
Much is being made of the recent history between the two nations. Ireland took 111 years to break their winning drought against New Zealand, beating the All Blacks for the first time in Chicago in 2016. Since then the two sides have clashed seven times with the Irish coming out on top four times.
But Irish don’t have a great history in World Cup quarter-finals - have never progressed to the final four.
Great battles
Irish captain Jonny Sexton also beat the All Blacks as part of the British and Irish Lions side in 2017 in the drawn series.
“I’ve had some great battles against New Zealand over the years with Ireland and the Lions,” Sexton said.
“What you learn is every game is as tough as the last, no matter what the results. That is what we are preparing for...for the toughest game we have ever faced. And we are trying to put ourselves in a frame of mind that we are going to be ready for it.”
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