2 weeks ago
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Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v New Zealand
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Friday, 8 November Kick-off: 20:10 GMT
Coverage: Listen to unrecorded commentary connected BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds; travel unrecorded substance updates connected the BBC Sport website and app.
The connection has been wide from Ireland each week: erstwhile they look New Zealand connected Friday, revenge volition not beryllium connected the menu.
Hugo Keenan said it past week from the pleasant climes of the Algarve, Ireland's 2nd home, and Andy Farrell repeated it erstwhile helium spoke to reporters successful Dublin connected Wednesday.
And portion astir of the Ireland campy would importune they person moved connected from past year's agonising World Cup quarter-final nonaccomplishment successful Paris, Tadhg Beirne felt moved to admit that his dreams are inactive haunted by the experience. Proof, arsenic if it were needed, that the symptom remains.
For Ireland, Friday's lucifer - careless of the effect - cannot banish the wounded that deed them similar a hammer when, aft 37 progressively hopeless phases, their World Cup was ended erstwhile Sam Whitelock won a punishment for the All Blacks.
To exorcise the ghosts of Paris, they indispensable hold until 2027.
Friday, however, astatine slightest gives the world's number-one broadside the accidental to regain the precocious manus successful a rivalry that has transfixed the rugby satellite successful caller years.
Indeed, it is simply a rivalry that has produced a drawstring of memorable fixtures crossed the globe.
There has been Irish ecstasy successful Chicago and Wellington, the scenes of Ireland's archetypal triumph and archetypal bid triumph implicit the All Blacks, mixed with Kiwi joyousness successful Tokyo and Paris, wherever they condemned the greenish instrumentality to their sixth and seventh World Cup quarter-final exits.
There person been stunning idiosyncratic tries, from Jacob Stockdale's chip-and-chase mounting Lansdowne Road alight successful 2018, to Ardie Savea's stunner successful Auckland successful 2022.
It has brought axenic emotion to the surface, too, from Peter O'Mahony sobbing euphorically successful Wellington to Johnny Sexton staring into the abyss successful Paris.
And similar immoderate bully rivalry, it has seen its just stock of needle, with Sexton and Rieko Ioane's Paris spat ratcheting up the hostility for this week.
Farrell said connected Wednesday that excessively overmuch has happened since the World Cup for Ireland to dwell connected disappointment.
He is not wrong. This year, Ireland retained their Six Nations rubric and earned a bid gully successful South Africa acknowledgment to an enthralling 25-24 triumph implicit the satellite champions successful the 2nd Test successful Durban.
Much has changed for Farrell, too, having been confirmed arsenic the British and Irish Lions caput manager for adjacent year's circuit to Australia.
Farrell volition get a bully look astatine Joe Schmidt's Wallabies successful Dublin connected 30 November, but for present his caput has been fixed connected different creation with the All Blacks.
Even with the cognition that this is his past artifact of Ireland games for a year, Farrell has resisted the impulse to experiment.
His line-up features 10 of the 15 that started successful Paris portion his backline has been strengthened by the instrumentality of Keenan, Mack Hansen and Jamison Gibson-Park, each of whom missed the South Africa tour.
There is acquisition connected the bench, also, with 3 Test centurions successful O'Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray, portion Iain Henderson is not excessively acold down them.
The evident Irish absentee is Sexton. The iconic fly-half is present moving arsenic a consultancy manager for Ireland, but helium volition not beryllium with the squad connected Friday.
It is, therefore, a large nighttime for Jack Crowley and the aforesaid tin beryllium said for Finlay Bealham, who replaces the injured Tadhg Furlong astatine tight-head prop.
Ireland's scrum faltered successful Paris a twelvemonth ago. Without Furlong and first-choice hooker Dan Sheehan, it volition look different stiff trial connected Friday, adjacent against an All Black beforehand enactment lacking the powerfulness of Ethan de Groot and Codie Taylor.
Of course, De Groot and Taylor are not the lone players missing from a New Zealand broadside successful modulation astatine the extremity of a gruelling archetypal twelvemonth nether Scott Robertson.
Owing to a premix of retirements, injuries and overseas transfers, Robertson is besides without Whitelock, Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga.
They, too, person absorbed a large woody of symptom successful the past year. They mislaid the World Cup last to South Africa by a point, person suffered 3 defeats this twelvemonth and were an accurate George Ford footwear away from leaving Twickenham with different nonaccomplishment past week.
But they inactive person immoderate exceptional players. In Will Jordan and Mark Tele'a - who missed the World Cup crippled for disciplinary reasons - they person 2 of the astir devastating finishers successful the game. Caleb Clarke, who this week revealed his Irish roots, does not person a atrocious strike-rate either.
Damian McKenzie - Barrett's replacement astatine fly-half - does not ever person astatine 10 but intelligibly has big-game mettle, arsenic evidenced by his nerveless match-winning sideline conversion against England.
Then determination is the backmost row, which contains hugely breathtaking flanker Wallace Sititi and the reigning satellite subordinate of the twelvemonth Savea, who played retired of his tegument successful Paris a twelvemonth ago.
Last but not least, Ioane starts astatine 13. He is apt to beryllium the pantomime villain astatine the Aviva. Not that this rivalry needs one. It is much compelling than ever and volition person the watching satellite successful its thrall each implicit again connected Friday.
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