Ireland and New Zealand returned to Chicago on Saturday evening, in a highly anticipated test match billed as ‘The Rematch.’

In November 2016, Soldier Field played host to Ireland’s first-ever win over the All Blacks, a day widely held as one of the greatest in the national team’s history.

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Given the epic recent history between the teams, this was one of the most hotly anticipated games of the entire Autumn Nations Series, especially with the fixture returning to American soil.

Despite all the hype and excitement, however, the Chicago venue left much to be desired, as little if anything ran smoothly in the opening stages of the game.

Criticisms were levelled at the stadium, as well as the organisation of the match, which transpired to be excruciatingly stop-start during.

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Soldier Field in shambolic state for Ireland v New Zealand

The Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field was the venue for Saturday’s Ireland v New Zealand clash. Though the stadium is of epic proportions, the pitch was in a dreadful state at kick-off.

Photos from Irish journalists in attendance showed the visible wear and tear on the pitch before the teams had even taken to it.

The NFL markings were still extremely visible on the pitch for Saturday’s game.

By the time the players retreated after the warm-ups, the pitch was already in need of repair.

It was not a great omen for the evening ahead, and things were not to get much better.

The Haka is an iconic part of any New Zealand match, but it was not done justice by the TV direction, which lingered far too much on close-up shots and failed to capture the spectacle of Ireland facing down their counterparts.

However, it was an early TMO farce that summed up the questionable venue for Saturday’s clash.

 

Just a matter of minutes into the game, a review was called for a high hit by Tadhg Beirne on Beauden Barrett, a hit that ultimately drew a 20-minute red card.

However, that was after a shambolically long wait for the referee to review the incident, due to a failure of the big screens in the stadium.

None of the screens in Soldier Field were functioning, meaning the referee had not seen the incident back even after the incident had been relayed multiple times on TVs around the world.

Referee Pierre Brousset was eventually forced to watch the replays on a small pitchside monitor, in a ludicrous situation that did nothing for the fans in the stadium.

Exacerbating things, the ref mic did not function in relaying the decision to the increasingly impatient crowd.

RTÉ commentary legend Ryle Nugent said that all fans in the stands were “clueless” and that the incident had completely drained the stadium of energy.

The incident drew widespread criticism from rugby punters online.

 

No timer for yellow/red.

Sound abysmal.

Pitch abysmal.

Communication abysmal.

For all the hype of this game… https://t.co/OFihi4I4a9

— Jeff Neville (The Loose Head) (@TheLooseH) November 1, 2025

Part of the reasoning for bringing Ireland v New Zealand to Chicago was to promote rugby in the United States before the country hosts the 2031 World Cup.

Brian O’Driscoll was on commentary duty for TNT Sports at the game. When lead commentator Nick Mullins argued rugby had to do better if it was to win over American fans, O’Driscoll said: “It sure does.

“It’s so frustrating early on in the game. It’s taken the energy out of the stands,” O’Driscoll continued.

It was extremely frustrating to have so many issues on the ground after such an exciting build-up to Ireland v New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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