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Phil Egan
Phil Egan

11:51 11 Nov 2021



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New Zealand have retained the same pack that started against Wales for Saturday's November Test against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett are the half-back pairing, while Anton Lienert-Brown moves to inside centre alongside Rieko Ioane.

Sevu Reece is back on the wing, with Will Jordan on the other side and Jordie Barrett starts at full-back.

The forward pack which ran out against Wales two weeks ago has been retained, with the front row of Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Nepo Laulala.

The second row is the experienced Samuel Whitelock, who will captain the side, and Brodie Retallick, while in the back row, Ethan Blackadder is at blindside flanker, Dalton Papalii is at openside, while Ardie Savea is number eight.

New Zealand team to face Ireland:

1. Joe Moody
2. Codie Taylor
3. Nepo Laulala
4. Brodie Retallick
5. Samuel Whitelock – captain
6. Ethan Blackadder
7. Dalton Papalii
8. Ardie Savea
9. TJ Perenara
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Sevu Reece
12. Anton Lienert-Brown
13. Rieko Ioane
14. Will Jordan
15. Jordie Barrett

Replacements:

16. Dane Coles
17. Karl Tu’inukuafe
18. Tyrel Lomax
19. Tupou Vaa’i
20. Akira Ioane
21. Finlay Christie
22. Richie Mo’unga
23. David Havili

"We’ve had a great week here in Dublin," said All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster.

"We travelled well from Italy and are back into our more traditional routine of hitting a town and then moving onto the next one.

"The weather has been great here and we’ve enjoyed training in those conditions and getting ready for what will be a massive occasion on Saturday.

"We obviously have objectives we want to get out of each training session and we feel we have done that well.

"The guys are focussed and we achieved what we wanted to achieve.

Speaking on the changes in the starting backline, Foster added: "That’s the way we finished the Welsh game, with Anton moving in, Rieko moving to centre and Sevu on the wing.

"It’s a little bit of a reward for that combination. We’ve been able to use this series of games and the time together to try different things and thought a little change there would be good for us.

"We’re also pretty excited at the impact that Finlay, David and Richie will have off the bench.

Foster expects to go up against a confident Ireland team with Andy Farrell's side coming off the back of last weekend's emphatic 60-5 win over Japan.

He added: "We’ve watched Ireland’s development this year with interest, particularly through the latter part of the Six Nations and last week’s big win over Japan.

"They are certainly playing with confidence and ambition and represent a formidable challenge.

"We have no doubt what Saturday is going to bring at a full Aviva Stadium.

"It’s a big occasion, rugby is back to Dublin in terms of full grandstands, so we know what it’s going to mean here, and we want that kind of stage.

"It’s big and it’s exciting and is what motivates this team."


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All Blacks Aviva Stadium Ian Foster Ireland New Zealand Vodafone

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