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'It's a different playing field now': The All Blacks view of Ireland ahead of defining series

(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The All Blacks believe they will have to take their game up a notch to defeat an Irish side that has become “a genuine top contender” in world rugby over the last half decade.

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After a shock first-ever defeat to Ireland in Chicago in 2016, the All Blacks and Ireland have gone tit-for-tat over the last five tests between the nations.

Under former boss Sir Steve Hansen, the Kiwis avenged that loss in Dublin a few weeks later in what was a physically brutal clash, but when they returned to the Irish capital in 2018, the All Blacks were stunned 16-9 and left try-less by Joe Schmidt’s team.

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The Breakdown | Sky Sport NZ | Episode 17

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The All Blacks again got revenge during the 2019 World Cup quarter-final, where a flailing Irish side was hammered 46-14 in a quarter-final drubbing.

Now led by new head coach Andy Farrell, Ireland rebounded and completed their third win over the All Blacks last November, beating New Zealand 29-20 at Aviva Stadium.

It has become a rivalry that is fitting of a three-match series, and All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree knows his side must step up to match Ireland’s physicality if they are to clinch a series win on home soil in July.

“Facing the Irish, facing these bigger teams physically, we know that they rise physically in that department,” Plumtree said on Monday.

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“We’ve got to rise further. We know we’ve got the skill, we know we’ve got the power, but our physicality’s going to have to go up a couple of notches this year.

“That’s something that we’ll be focussing on but also just our speed and our skills. They’re all something that we’ll continue to work on.

“The All Blacks forward pack, the onus is on us to make sure that we get momentum for [the backs]. That’s our job. Whether it’s up front set-piece or around the park, we’ve got to be able to get across the advantage line and consistently build pressure.”

Plumtree said it has become “a different playing field” in terms of being able to dominate up front against Ireland and outlined how the All Blacks coaches have used their off-season to conjure a plan for next month’s series.

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“I think it’s a different playing field now. We know we’re playing against a very good Irish side and we have to play very well to beat them. We’re all aware of that. There’s been a lot of work in the last two or three months around our planning.

“This is the exciting stage, the squad’s announced, we go into camp from now until the first test, pretty much. It’ll be a fresh All Blacks side and playing at home, there’s a lot for us to look forward to.”

Sam Cane, meanwhile, was excited to be named as captain to led the side again after a challenging 2021 which saw the skipper miss the July tests, Bledisloe Cup and the Rugby Championship.

He returned to action for the All Blacks on their end-of-year tour, but was not on the field for the loss to Ireland and will be looking to lead the side to different result this time round.

Cane said that Ireland “has had their number” following a continuing trend of regular losses since 2016, which promised to add to what would be a “massive” series in the context of the World Rugby rankings.

“I just think the way the Irish have played for the last few years, they’ve really moved up in world rugby and the quality of the rugby they put out has been so consistent and now they’re a genuine top contender,” the 30-year-old said.

“I think they’ve pretty much had our number as well. It hasn’t been easy. We’ve lost to them in Ireland twice now and once in Chicago.

“It’s been 10 years since they came out here so it’s going to be a real unique series. It’s going to be massive, I think. Just really excited for it to kick off now.”

Cane added that it would be critical for the All Blacks to hit the ground running in the first test, something that will be helped over the next few weeks by staging All Blacks camps in the lead-up to the series opener in Auckland on July 2.

“We never try and start slow. It’s one of the challenges of coming from Super Rugby and trying to bring players from the five teams together. For sure, there won’t be much room for starting slow at all,” he said

“There’s a camp this week for the boys that aren’t playing in the Super Rugby final to get a little bit of a head start and then the two weeks; preparation will be really important.”

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r
rod 890 days ago

Most Northern Hemisphere fans do not take into consideration the amount of games the ABS played away from home last year, only 2 at home the other 13 overseas due to COVID it’s not an excuse why they didn’t win the last 2 games against Ireland & France but would those teams having had that itinerary be at their best after such a difficult year? Will be interesting now the Irish are here with both sides fully fit after both Championships

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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