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

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.

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.

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.

"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.

"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."