{"id":233705,"date":"2025-10-23T00:06:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233705\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T00:06:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:06:12","slug":"all-blacks-arent-shying-away-from-rare-grand-slam-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233705\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks aren\u2019t \u2018shying away\u2019 from rare Grand Slam shot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cam Roigard insists the All Blacks<\/a> aren\u2019t \u201cshying away\u201d from the challenge of claiming the team\u2019s first Grand Slam in 15 years, as they prepare to start their Northern Tour against familiar rivals Ireland<\/a> at Chicago\u2019s Soldier Field.<\/p>\n

New Zealand<\/a> have only won the Grand Slam four times, beating the four Home Nations in 1978, 2005, 2009 and most recently in 2010. It\u2019s a rare opportunity for the All Blacks to fight for that prize, but the current side coached by Scott Robertson<\/a> are embracing the pressure.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks have won seven of their nine Test matches in 2025 so far, falling to Los Pumas<\/a> 29-23 in Argentina<\/a> and the Springboks by a record 43-10 scoreline at Wellington\u2019s Sky Stadium \u2013 finishing The Rugby Championship<\/a> in second place.<\/p>\n

After back-to-back Bledisloe Cup wins over the Wallabies in Auckland<\/a> and Perth, the All Blacks will face Ireland, Scotland, England<\/a> and Wales<\/a> before their 13-Test international season draws to what could be a historic Grand Slam-winning close.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a goal the All Blacks have briefly \u201ctalked about\u201d already, but it\u2019s not front of mind just yet. The Irish shocked the All Blacks at Soldier Field in 2016, sparking a new chapter in one of rugby union\u2019s great rivalries, so they\u2019ll need to pass that initial test to keep the dream alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not written up on the wall just yet. Not sure what the theming of the week will be just yet, just because obviously they\u2019ll probably do that once we\u2019re in Chicago,\u201d Roigard told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no shying away from it and it\u2019s probably something that we walk towards because it\u2019s an exciting opportunity. I think the last time the All Blacks did it was 2010 which I don\u2019t actually have many memories of it if I\u2019m honest, although I was a diehard All Blacks fan then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not many players that get an opportunity to do it and be part of a team that can do it. I think it all starts with the first game and we can\u2019t get too carried away. If we get the first two, three weeks right, we\u2019ll be definitely talking about it and getting pretty excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand and Ireland have clashed in 38 Test matches, with the All Blacks triumphing in all but six of those matches. There was one draw in January 1973, and the Irish\u2019s five wins have all come within the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

Ireland had never beaten the All Blacks before the two sides went head-to-head in front of more than 62,000 fans at Soldier Field on November 5, 2016. Jordi Murphy<\/a> opened the scoring, as Ireland scored five tries to four in a famous 40-29 victory.<\/p>\n

While the All Blacks bounced back two weeks later at Dublin\u2019s Aviva Stadium with a 21-9 win, the Irish have tasted victory in 2018, 2021, and twice in 2022. Ireland had never beaten the All Blacks on New Zealand soil before 2022, but won the three-Test series 2-1.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks have triumphed in the last two meetings, including an unforgettable quarter-final at the 2023 Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup, which the New Zealanders won 28-24 at Stade de France. They backed that up with a 10-point win in Dublin during last year\u2019s Northern Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably where the rivalry started in a way. That was the first time they beat us. It was an iconic Test,\u201d Roigard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that\u2019s what\u2019s ignited it all. Over the years, since then, it\u2019s back and forth in terms of they\u2019ve beaten us a couple times\u2026 we ended their Aviva winning streak last year. The rivalry\u2019s very much alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether we\u2019re using that as fuel this week, that\u2019s probably not up to me, probably up to the coaches, but for myself, I remember watching that game when I was 15 or however old I was and it always hurts when you\u2019re a diehard All Blacks fan seeing them get beaten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe preparation doesn\u2019t change no matter who I\u2019m playing. It\u2019s always in-depth and making sure there\u2019s no stone unturned.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cam Roigard insists the All Blacks aren\u2019t \u201cshying away\u201d from the challenge of claiming the team\u2019s first Grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-233705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}