lreland in New Zealand today in Wellington with the series at 1-1 and the visitors ready to inflict the All Blacks with their first Test series defeat in 28 years.
Last Saturday saw Andy Farrell’s team win 23-12 in a heroic Irish performance and after tearing up the record books by securing the win, his Irish side are looking to do even better at Sky Stadium and take on the most celebrated rugby team .
Johnny Sexton had one of his best performances in an Ireland shirt in last week’s win and the 37-year-old flyhalf insists his team are ready to give their “best performance of the season”.
As Sexton prepares for the match, a historic one for him personally as he will tie Paul O’Connell as Ireland’s fifth ever player, he and the rest of his team appear calm as they count down the minutes to kick-off.
“We’re really looking forward to it. It’s a great place to be: made a little bit of history last week, but now we have the chance to do something bigger and a little bit more special.”
It’s not just Sexton who enjoys the heaviness of the third Test. We all know the All Blacks’ fearsome reputation, but if anyone can beat them in a series on their home soil, it’s Ireland, who have won four of their last seven games despite winning consecutive Tests.
“This is exactly where you want to be.” says Andy Farrell, and it’s hard not to agree with him after the win in Dunedin.
Ireland did everything right and they managed to capitalize on what was an unusually ill-disciplined performance from the All Blacks.
Farrell is expecting a response from Zeeland, but has vowed to bring “chaos” into the game and sow a little doubt in the minds of the All Blacks.”
New Zealand coach Ian Foster has made four changes from last Saturday, with forwards Nepo Laulala and Sam Whitelock returning to the fold, who should be a big boost with their vast experience. Backs Will Jordan and David Havili also return and will present another threat to Ireland.
Meanwhile, the visitors have made just one change, with Bundee Aki moving into midfield to replace Garry Ringrose, who was injured last week. Aki was great after he got off the bench and he will try to replicate that feat.