The first Test between New Zealand and Ireland kicks-off in Eden Park at 8.05am Irish time, on Saturday morning. Photograph: Bastiaan Beentjes/Getty ImagesWhen you first walk into Eden Park it is the extraordinary architectural blandness of the place that strikes you.You have to dig deeper than the physical to understand that it is not the bricks and mortar that make Eden Park the toughest place on the planet for away teams to win.
The New Zealand public believes victory at Eden park is guaranteed. A 100 per cent sure thing. This is where Ireland’s great opportunity has its genesis because guaranteed victory in rugby does not exist. As Russian missiles rained down upon Ukraine, Joe Schmidt stepping in to help the New Zealand rugby team hit by Covid was the leading news story.
The fact that Joe’s role as a selector and analyst for New Zealand was officially not due to start until after the Irish tour was simply Joe displaying his class and great respect for his former team as he did not wish to confront them. When Ireland defeated New Zealand last November, a year after Joe Schmidt had departed, they played superior rugby, with superior belief, using superior skills, played at a pace New Zealand could not live with, for the entire 80 minutes.This was due to Andy Farrell selecting combinations of players predominantly from Leinster and also, intelligently adopting much of Leinster’s game plan.
Yeah, it's not the architecture we go to the fortress for boys.
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