When and where?
Saturday, July 16th. Kick-off is at 8.05am Irish time (7.05pm local) at the Sky Stadium in Wellington.
Can I watch?
You can indeed. The game is not free-to-air but Sky Sports have the rights to show it in Ireland. You can also follow on our liveblog which will get under way at 7.30am on The Irish Times website and mobile app.
Series so far:
First Test: All Blacks 42 Ireland 19
It was a disastrous start to the Test series for Ireland. After coming quickly out of the blocks through a Keith Earls try, a nightmare span of three tries for the All Blacks in the 10 minutes before half-time killed the contest. All of said scores came from Ireland mistakes, making it a frustrating night as the hosts didn’t have to work particularly hard to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Down 28-5 at the break, Garry Ringrose gave Ireland some hope with a 44th-minute score in the corner but Ardie Savea glided past him not long after to restore the All Blacks’ hefty cushion. Pita Gus Sowakula added a debut score meaning Bundee Aki’s late effort was but a consolation.
The game was also noteworthy for Johnny Sexton failing a head injury assessment (HIA). Confusion followed as many thought that would rule him out of the second Test thanks to World Rugby’s new 12-day stand down for head injuries, but after passing his HIA Two and Three later in the week, Sexton was fit to go.
Second Test: All Blacks 12 Ireland 23
The script was flipped as Ireland cut out the sloppy errors that cost them so dear in Auckland while the All Blacks found their own error count unusually high as the series moved to Dunedin.
This one will forever be remembered for an abundance of cards and refereeing decisions that caused plenty of controversy. First of all Leicester Fainga’anuku saw yellow for taking out Mack Hansen in the air but many thought he should have seen red since contact to the Connacht wing’s head was certainly made. The incident had shades of CJ Stander’s dismissal vs South Africa in 2016.
Then on 25 minutes, Ofa Tu’ungafasi was also sent to the naughty step for tackling Ringrose off the ball as Sexton looked to give a scoring offload to him in the wide channel. The officials believed the presence of Jordie Barrett was sufficient cover to not award a penalty try, though it has to be said that the fullback was well behind Ringrose at the time of the pass and stood little chance of catching him so close to the line.
The one that the officials are generally seen as getting right was the red card shown to Angus Ta’avao for a reckless head-on-head challenge with Ringrose just six minutes later. Referee Jaco Peyper initially seemed reluctant to brandish a red but his TMO eventually talked him into the right decision. Ta’avao later received a three-week ban, reduced to two if he undergoes tackle technique training, while Ringrose’s failed HIA ruled him out of the final Test.
Just for good measure, James Ryan was binned for repeated Ireland infringements moments later.
But that’s not where the officiating controversy ended. Due to being down two tightheads - one yellow, one red — the All Blacks were forced to sacrifice another player for Aidan Ross to come on in the frontrow but scrums still had to be uncontested due to his loosehead specialisation.
However, that should have precipitated another All Black leaving the field as punishment for forcing uncontested scrums. Instead, the officials got their headcount wrong and 13 players — one red carded, one in the bin — carried on when Ireland should have had time playing against 12.
Anyway, away from all the card madness, Andrew Porter notched a brace and Sexton kicked three penalties and two conversions to steer Ireland home and level the series.
Team news
Ringrose is out for Ireland after that Ta’avao head clash, but he is the only change to the starting XV with Bundee Aki being promoted from the bench after he impressed deputising for the Leinster centre last weekend. It renews the former Connacht midfield pairing between himself and Robbie Henshaw.
Keith Earls has come on to the bench in the 23 shirt.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Kieran Treadwell, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour/Keith Earls.
New Zealand: Jordie Barrett; Will Jordan, Reiko Ioane, David Havili, Sevu Reece; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; George Bower, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala; Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock; Scott Barrett, Sam Cane (capt), Ardie Savea.
What are the bookies saying?
The All Blacks are favourites at 2-9 with Ireland 7-2. The draw is priced at 20-1.
What would a series victory mean for Ireland?
A maiden victory on Kiwi soil has been secured, so this tour will already in some way be a success. Add to that the improvement of the second-string outfit in their win at the second attempt over the Maori All Blacks and you have to say strides forward have been taken.
Yet it is difficult to imagine Ireland ever being in as good a position to secure a series victory in New Zealand as this, and if Saturday doesn’t go the way of Andy Farrell’s side you know the ambition of the group will mean they will be bitterly disappointed.
If they win, they will join a select group of teams to win a series in New Zealand alongside France, Australia, the Lions and South Africa.
From the Kiwi point of view, there is a consensus emerging down there that the first Test win only papered over multiple cracks in the regime of head coach Ian Foster. If the All Blacks lose in Wellington, it will be the first time a home series has been lost since against France in 1994.
