Try it! New Zealand – Ireland 14-5 (Reece)
Ringrose makes an instep pass. Lowe escapes. Sevu Reece catches the ball and sprints almost the entire length of the field to score under the posts. O’Mahony happily chases, among others, but doesn’t catch on.
Meanwhile, Sexton has turned off, it seemed to me a blow to the head of Cane’s leg, accidentally, after Sexton slipped before contact.
29 min: The All Blacks, who have been nervous while under pressure, make a lineout in their own half and Ireland have the ball forward again.
26 min: Ireland have played most of the rugby, but they are behind … Sexton will be upset that this conversion has been lost and that is to say it lightly. It is the difference between parity and the slender deficit that Ireland now faces.
Anyway, Farrell’s team continues to ask questions in attack, with James Lowe trying to get to the end of a kick ahead on the edge of the All Blacks 22.
Updated at 08.39 BST
Try it! 21 min: New Zealand 7-5 Ireland (Barrett)
The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as tried lifting the ball over keeper Barringa. Unfortunately, the ball went just over the bar. Barrett nails the kick for the extras.
Updated at 08.36 BST
19 min: New Zealand enjoy a bit of forward ball and advance towards Ireland 22. This serves as a reminder that from the first minutes, all of Ireland has been. Just before that, Sexton attempted a brave chip and a chase in the middle of Ireland. Farrell wanted to see courage, he is certainly seeing it.
Updated at 08.31 BST
17 min: A great start, but for now just a start.
@LukeMcLaughlin great start for Ireland. Eden Park’s All Blacks is probably the hardest place to win in world sport. This is what this group of green boys want, to be in the lions’ den and prove that they can kill the beast!
– John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) July 2, 2022
15 min: New Zealand win a scrum penalty in the Irish half. A welcome point. From the next lineup, Ireland recovers the ball. Sexton gets ahead and Keenan almost unloads at Gibson-Park, who may have had a clear run down the line. Inside, winger Jordie Barrett reads it wonderfully. And it would have been a yellow card for the All Black if I had dropped it after juggling …
Updated at 08.27 BST
11 min: Jordie Barrett launches a sniper run from the left of the hosts. He has fallen and Peter O’Mahony grabs the ball from the ruck, making New Zealand’s No. 9 Smith look a little silly. O’Mahony steps forward and Earls is about to make it, but he gets in touch inside House 22. Everything is coming to Ireland right now, due to the way the men of ‘Andy Farrell have started the game.
Updated at 08.23 BST
10 min: A crunchy blow from Ringrose to Cane forces him to make a hit and a scrum for Ireland halfway. New Zealand go back on the field and go behind on the scoreboard. There are some visibly worried faces among the All Blacks team. If they thought it would be an “easy” night, or at least simple, they can think again.
Updated at 08.20 BST
Try it! 7 min: New Zealand – Ireland 0-5 (Earls)
Ireland wins a slightly lucky penalty for offside. This gives them a chance to pass half of the All Blacks for the first time. And they make an excellent attack, advancing through multiple phases and stretching the local defense, with Gibson-Park propelling from the base. Sheehan and Keenan are on the verge of overcoming as Ireland approaches the line, showing first-class control and continuity. A well placed corner kick from Keenan was followed by Earls’s hard but accurate header. What a start for Ireland! Sexton can’t hit the shot, and it’s a shame he only scored five points for such a successful attack from the visitors’ first real possession, but Ireland will.
Updated at 08.18 BST
2 min: There is a long period of kick tennis. Hugo Keenan initially mishandles a ball in Ireland 22, but manages to tidy it up and give it to Sexton. New Zealand executes it from this next possession. Sheehan almost hits the balance, but is kicked out of the ball, simply. Once down the corner and it is the lineup of Ireland five meters from its line.
Updated at 08.12 BST
Beginning of the first part!
Beauden Barrett begins! Send the kick in the middle. Ireland has an entry in the first scrum …
Updated at 08.09 BST
Ireland has 12 defeats out of 12 in all its tests in New Zealand so far.
Here comes the Haka.
Don’t forget, you can email me or tweet with any thoughts on the match.
The teams are on the field of play, it’s time for the anthems and the start is less than five minutes away.
“It doesn’t get bigger than Eden Park on a dry evening,” Ireland head coach Andy Farrell told Sky Sports. “We know the challenge we face, but at that moment we are excited …
“I want to see some courage. I want to see ourselves as ourselves from the word ‘Go.’
Updated at 08.03 BST
Michael Aylwin
In the perennial struggle between national and international sport, more exquisitely balanced in rugby than anywhere else, this weekend opens the last window for the international match to set in. Traders also want business, if the strength of the advertised equipment, so often exhausted at this time of year, is either way.
Equipment
Irishman Finlay Bealham has tested positive for Covid, so Cian Healy enters the 22. For New Zealand there are a couple of newcomers: Leicester Fainga’anuku is in the band and Chiefs number 8 Pita Gus Sowakula is in the sidewalk.
New Zealand: J. Barrett, Reece, R. John, Tupaea, Fainga’anuku, B. Barrett, Smith, Bower, Taylor, Tu’ungafasi, Retallick, Whitelock, S. Barrett, Cane, Savea. Substitutions: Taukeiaho, Tuinukuafe, Taavao-Matau, Sowakula, Papali’i, Christie, Mo’unga, Ennor.
Ireland: Keenan, Earls, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, Sexton, Gibson-Park, Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Ryan, O’Mahony, Van der Flier, Doris. Substitutions: Heffernan, Healy, O’Toole, Treadwell, Conan, Murray, Carbery, Aki.
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Updated at 07.50 BST
Preamble
Ireland waited a long time to beat New Zealand: 111 years, to be exact. Since they finally achieved the feat in Chicago in 2018, the floodgates have opened and Ireland now has three wins against the All Blacks, the last in November 2021.
However, they have not yet defeated New Zealand in New Zealand. What would it mean for Andy Farrell’s team to do that in the coming weeks? All in all, but above all, both as a milestone on its way to next year’s World Cup, and in itself as one of the great achievements of the rugby union.
Like Wimbledon and the Tour de France, Covid has not left this event intact, with a number of players and coaches abandoned. Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has even been selected as a replacement for New Zealand to lend a hand.
With England in Australia and Wales in South Africa, it’s the start of an intense rugby summer, but this could be the best of all.
Start: 8.05 h BST.