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LIVE MATCH CENTRE - Ireland v New Zealand
By Jack Davies
Saturday's clash between Ireland and New Zealand sees the world's top two international teams face each other in Dublin, but the history of this fixture is decidedly one-sided.
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The All Blacks have won 28 of the 30 matches between these teams, drawing once and losing a famous encounter in Chicago two years ago.
Trips to Dublin have invariably ended in victory for New Zealand, who have restricted Ireland to single figures on 10 of their past 15 visits.
Steve Hansen's men have won their last five matches in a row and are on a winning run of eight away from home - they have not lost in Europe since a 38-21 defeat to England in December 2012.
If they score 26 points this weekend, the All Blacks will surpass 500 for the third consecutive year, having failed to reach that marker in each of the eight years prior.
However, Ireland have every reason to be confident about their own chances.
Joe Schmidt's side have won 16 of their past 17 matches, and only three times in that period have they conceded more than 20 points in a single game.
The Six Nations Champions are also on their longest ever winning streak at home, carrying 10 consecutive victories at the Aviva Stadium into the fixture. That said, their last defeat in Dublin came at the hands of New Zealand in November 2016.
PLAYER STATS
- Ireland's Johnny Sexton (383) is just 14 points shy of eclipsing Ronan O'Gara (396) as the most prolific point scorer at the Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road in Test history.
- New Zealand's Beauden Barrett has scored 106 Test points in 2018, the most of any player and one of just two (Handre Pollard, 100) to have reached a century this year.
- Irish duo CJ Stander (157) and Bundee Aki (123) have made more carries than any other players in tier one of Test rugby in 2018 while New Zealand's Rieko Ioane (41) and Ben Smith (38) have beaten the most defenders this year.
- Beauden Barrett (8) and Aaron Smith (7) have assisted more tries than any other players in the top tier of Test rugby in 2018.
THE TEAMS
Ireland: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Johnny Sexton, Kieran Marmion; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, Devin Toner, James Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Luke McGrath, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour.
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie, Ben Smith, Jack Goodhue, Ryan Crotty, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Karl Tu'inukuafe, Codie Taylor, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Liam Squire, Ardie Savea, Kieran Read.
Replacements: Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi, Nepo Laulala, Scott Barrett, Matt Todd, TJ Perenara, Richie Mo'unga, Anton Lienert-Brown.
STARTING XV COMPARISON
AVERAGE AGE
Ireland: 28 years 227 days
New Zealand: 27y 278d
AVERAGE HEIGHT
Ireland: 188cm
New Zealand: 188cm
AVERAGE HEIGHT (FORWARDS)
Ireland: 192cm
New Zealand: 193cm
AVERAGE HEIGHT (BACKS)
Ireland: 184cm
New Zealand: 182cm
PACK WEIGHT
Ireland: 890kg
New Zealand: 921kg
AVERAGE WEIGHT
Ireland: 103kg
New Zealand: 105kg
AVERAGE WEIGHT (FORWARDS)
Ireland: 111kg
New Zealand: 115kg
AVERAGE WEIGHT (BACKS)
Ireland: 94kg
New Zealand: 92kg
Data: Opta
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Latest Comments
You'd swear they didn't win 28-7 away from home....
Go to commentsMcKenzie is better than Barrett , but not better than Richie Mo'unga. Richie regularly outplayed DMac in Super Rugby. , as he did in the 2023 Final in Hamilton. I remember the 2021 Aotearoa Super Rugby Final here in CHCH. Mo'unga took him to the cleaners. McKenzie is a fine footballer , but at best a hybrid 10 . Fergus Burke , ( now playing in England ), who made a big difference when he came back late in the Crusaders season , is a better 10 than DMac. I also think 140 game + Crusader Matt Todd was always a better no 7 than Sam Cane.A big part of 3 title winning teams when South African teams were still in the comp. How many titles did the Chiefs win in that period of time?
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