Key events
Ireland team news
It’s Munster over Leinster at 10. Or rather, Jack Crowley Sam Prendergast.
Big Andy Farrell has made a big bold call, but he can’t leave anything to chance and has placed his faith in the more pragmatic fly-half, who, to be fair, has been in brilliant form for his province.
He’ll have the reliable hands of Jamison Gibson-Park inside him and some power out wide.
Dan Sheehan skippers at hooker with a mobile back row to offer some heft.
Bundee Aki starts on the bench. Ireland are here to mix it with the All Blacks heavies.
Ireland: Osborne; O’Brien, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe; Crowley, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan (c), Furlong, Ryan, Beirne, Baird, van der Flier, Conan.
Replacements: Kelleher, McCarthy, Bealham, Henderson, Doris, Casey, Prendergast, Aki.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Back to the scene where everything changed.
Before kick-off on 5 November 2016, Ireland had never beaten New Zealand in 28 matches stretched across 111 years.
When the final whistle rang out across Soldier Field in Chicago, the King Kong was off Irish rugby’s back thanks to a historic 40-29 victory.
That was the spark. In the 10 games they’ve since played against New Zealand, Ireland have won five, including two in enemy territory to claim a Test series in 2022.
But no Irish supporter will need reminding that their last encounter against the All Blacks came in the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal where Sam Cane’s men held firm on defence and dumped the Irish out of a tournament they thought was theirs for the taking.
Which means there are plenty of scores to settle in Chicago. New histories need writing. New yarns need spinning. Two brilliant yet flawed teams will be desperate to get the job done. There might not be a glittering trophy riding on this, but you can be sure there’s plenty of pride at stake.
Kick-off at 8:10 pm GMT, 3:10 pm local time.
Teams and other bits to follow shortly.
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