Friday night sees Ireland clash with New Zealand in Dublin, the first time the sides have met since the RWC 2023 quarter finals when the All Blacks came out on top.
Ireland v New Zealand, Friday 8th November, Dublin, KO 22:10 (South African time)
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
Weather Forecast: Dublin
Ireland:
Ireland's mid year tour of South Africa saw the series shared 1-1. Ireland lost the first test 27-20 but squared things up with a nail biting 25-24 victory in the second contest.
Ireland came into the Six Nations earlier this year as favourites and they successfully defended the title finishing 5 points clear of France. A 23-22 defeat to England at Twickenham in Round 4 torpedoed hopes of another Grand Slam whilst their four other matches ended in victory; in France (38-17), at home to Italy (36-0), at home to Wales (31-7) and at home to Scotland (17-13).
In RWC 2023 Ireland bowed out at the quarter final stage, going down 28-24 to the All Blacks.
New Zealand:
The All Blacks took on England at Twickenham last weekend, they started as favourites at around 3.5 points on the main handicap line and edged the match 24-22. Mark Tele'a scored 2 of their 3 tries, the second of which came in the 76th minute and they had to survive a nervy finish with England missing a drop goal chance at the death.
On their way to Europe the All Blacks stopped in Yokohoma for a clash with Japan, they fielded a number of fringe players but still came away with a 64-19 victory.
New Zealand's recent Rugby Championship campaign comprised of 3 wins and 3 defeats and they came in as distant runners up to the Springboks. They finished with back to back wins over Australia (31-28 in Sydney and finally 33-13 in Wellington) and retained the Bledisloe Cup. Back to back defeats to the Boks in South Africa in Rounds 3 and 4 ended their title hopes (27-17 and 31-27). Their first two matches came at home to Argentina and they lost 38-30 in Round 1 and then bounced back and in some style, running out 42-10 winners a week later.
Team News
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14, Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadgh Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Jamie Osborne
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Reiko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyral Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Stephen Perofeta
Recent Head to Head
Oct 23 RWC Paris Ireland 24–28 New Zealand
Jul 22 INT Wellington New Zealand 22-32 Ireland
Jul 22 INT Dunedin New Zealand 12-23 Ireland
Jul 22 INT Auckland New Zealand 42-19 Ireland
Nov 21 INT Dublin Ireland Ireland 29-20 New Zealand
Oct 2019 RWC Japan New Zealand 46-14 Ireland
The Betting
Average early show, subject to change
Ireland -5.5 points at 9/10
New Zealand +5.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
to follow
Bet: to follow
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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