Tadhg Furlong has played against New Zealand 13 times – 10 Tests with Ireland and three more in the 2017 Lions series. But, needless to say, it remains a game that never loses its appeal.
“No, no, no,” stressed Furlong at Ireland’s hotel base in Auckland. He is in the build-up phase to his 14th meeting with the All Blacks at their Eden Park fortress on Saturday (kick-off 7.10pm local time/8.10am Irish time).
“Look, you grow up and obviously some of the teams they had, some of the players they had, would have been like poster boys for rugby, no matter where you are – worldwide, really.
Underdog Ireland gear up for All Blacks test
“I think everyone loved the haka. Well, I certainly did growing up in Wexford, and Wexford’s a long way away from New Zealand. It just shows the influence of New Zealand rugby or the All Blacks jersey, that it had not just on rugby fans in New Zealand, but worldwide.”
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The haka is more than just a famous pre-match pageant too.
“It’s also culturally important to New Zealand,” he adds. “It’s part of rugby history, rugby culture. As much as it means to New Zealand, it’s also cool to face it.”
Remarkably, Furlong has a 50-50 win-loss record too, with five wins and five defeats in an Irish shirt along with one win, one draw and one loss with the Lions in 2017. But that first breakthrough win in November 2016 remains the highlight.
“Chicago was special, really. As a young fella, breaking through. It was my second start for Ireland. It was a bit of a surreal day. It wasn’t just that we beat New Zealand for the first time; it was more the occasion, stadium, fans, euphoria of it all. It was class to be a part of.”
One of his boyhood heroes was the brilliant All Blacks tighthead Carl Hayman, who is now living with dementia.
“I loved Carl Hayman. I’ve seen some stuff recently about him. It’s sad to see. I wish him all the best, not that he needs my wishes. But even talking to some of the older props that would have scrummaged against him, they would have said how good he was. He took you on in a straight battle. And then Tony Woodcock. That was my vintage growing up and watching New Zealand. Neemia Tialata. Remember him? Big tighthead.”
There was an 111-year, 30-Test wait for that first ever win over the All Blacks in Chicago. It has since been trumped with two wins on New Zealand soil in Dunedin and Christchurch. Now comes the task of ending the All Blacks’ 52-match, 32-year unbeaten run at Eden Park.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” said Furlong. “It’s an unbelievable record. It’s one of those last standing, huge records in the world of sport, not just rugby. I can only imagine if we had that record at home, what it would be like playing there. It’s deadly.”
Added focus has been placed on the Irish scrum of late and Furlong admits there have been issues on this tour.
“It was a bit messy in the first game to be fair, on our part. There’s certain stuff that we talked about going into the game that we didn’t necessarily deliver in-game. So that’s disappointing but it’s part of the process coming together and trying to get it right.
“After the South Africa game, it (scrum-related pressure) was particularly dark. I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near that level, but we’re working hard. We’re working hard to get it right.”
There are other reasons for believing that Ireland’s best overall performance of this tour will be in this finale. While Furlong and much of the Leinster cohort were relatively match-hardened, players from the other provinces had at least four blank weekends before departure and it had been three months since the last Irish camp.
“It’s a campaign where we came in and we had a lot of making up [ground] to do,” Furlong reminds us. “We were missing some experienced players in the squad, which is fair enough, and it’s great to get some promising young fellas through, even in front row and stuff like that.
“There’s probably a block of players that hadn’t played much rugby in a good while. I’d like to think we’re building nicely in terms of cohesiveness, in terms of sharpness, in terms of just rugby-playing ability on attack and defence because it’s week four now of proper team training where maybe there’s a gang of lads that hadn’t played in three, four weeks.
“So, I suppose Saturday will tell, but it feels like the cohesiveness in the group is building.”
