As expected, Ireland will make only one enforced change to their starting XV for next Saturday’s third Test series decider against New Zealand in Wellington’s Sky Stadium (kick-off 7.05pm local time/8.05am Irish), as Bundee Aki renews his old Connacht midfield partnership with Robbie Henshaw in the absence of Garry Ringrose.
Ringrose suffered concussion after half an hour of last week’s historic, 23-12 second Test victory over in Dunedin when on the receiving end of a head-to-head hit by the All Blacks’ replacement Angus Ta’avao. A three-week suspension was subsequently handed down to the prop.
This means 13 of the starting XV, including an unchanged pack, will have been ever-present starters in the Test series which, given the demands of this end-of-season tour, is a tribute to their game management, strength & conditioning cum medical staff and an element of good fortune.
The only two exceptions are Aki, who captained the midweek side in their first game against the Maoris and has had two lengthy stints off the bench in both Tests, and Hansen, who was ruled out of the first Test with Covid before making his mark in Dunedin.
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Furthermore, Kieran Treadwell, Jack Conan, Conor Murray and Joey Carbery have been named on the bench in all five games, with Treadwell and Carbery set to actually play in each of the tour matches.
Looking ahead to the challenge facing his side on Saturday, Andy Farrell is aware of the renewed resolve which the All Blacks will bring to this series after being stung by last week’s defeat, and has plenty of experience of the ebbs and flows of a three-match series.
“I’ve no doubt they will be firing on all cylinders and they will be determined to put that right but I think it’s more about us and our mentality.
“I have been involved in plenty of three-game series, where one team wins the first game and the second team is so desperate that they have to [win] and the emotion of the second game takes so much out of them that it’s pretty hard to get back up.
“We have all seen scenarios of that calibre but I don’t get that feeling. They were happy to win, they know that things pretty well, but they know that we can play a lot better, and they are relishing that opportunity.”
It will be some feat for Ireland to score the first try of the game for third Test in a row, having done so inside six minutes in the first Test through Keith Earls and in the third minute of the second Test with the first of Andrew Porter’s brace.
But Farrell said: “Again, the start is pretty key for us. When we have no wastage in our attack, we are asking questions of most teams, which is great.
“Fixing a few things as far as not just getting parity at set-piece but trying to be dominant there and trying to bring a bit of chaos defensively to the All Blacks attack are all things that were evident, things that we spoke about, but also missed opportunities – making sure that we understand the flow and feel of the game and react to that a little bit better from time to time.
“I thought we put a lot of periods back-to-back that were pretty good, that created pressure, we also let our foot off the gas a few times with a little bit of ill-discipline or being that little bit too frantic at times. That can be better.”
Ireland (possible): Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers), Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians), James Lowe (Leinster); Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College, capt), Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf); James Ryan (Leinster/UCD), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne); Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD), Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf), Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers), Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena), Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere), Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen), Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf), Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) or Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College).
