Irish captain talking up his side’s chances of posting a victory at All Black fortress
03:08, 17 Jul 2026Updated 03:08, 17 Jul 2026
Ireland Rugby Captain’s Run, Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand – Dan Sheehan (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Ireland skipper Dan Sheehan admits his side will be looking for their best performance this calendar year to defeat the All Blacks at Eden Park.
It is not unreasonable to suggest a performance that was better than the 42-21 Six Nations victory over England at Twickenham last February would be very competitive indeed.
This, by the way, came courtesy of an electric first-half hour as Ireland raced to a 21-0 lead while there was a converted English try three minutes from time to get the margin back to from 28 to 21.
“We’ve had a great few weeks, obviously performances probably haven’t been where we want them but it’s a brilliant opportunity now to bring it all together for a big game tomorrow.
“We saw improvements in all sorts of areas in all the campaigns we’ve had this year.
“We probably had a slow start in all of those campaigns and built nicely through them, so hopefully we get the best we’ve seen this year tomorrow.
“New Zealand are playing some good rugby and are flying high, and then in this stadium we need our best tomorrow.
“Everyone’s been excited, it’s been in the calendar for a while, so yeah, it’s a great occasion, a great opportunity for us to finish the season off on a high.”
Ireland have been aware of the issues around the set-piece scrum and lineout and Sheehan has doubled down saying he is ‘very confident’ those issues have been addressed.
While the All Blacks’ 32 year winning streak at Eden Park merely adds to the determination to win.
“Winning would be a special thing to do, of course, but it’s probably something that we haven’t focused on massively.
“Obviously, it’s a great record, but we are trying to get the best performance out of the group that we’ve seen this year and we think we have it in us.
“If we show the capabilities that are within the squad out on the day, I think it’ll be a great test game and, hopefully, we come out in top.
“It’s not something we’ve sort of mentioned through the week but it will help this be a great occasion.”Besides, Sheehan has good memories of playing in New Zealand.
“There was that first win in Dunedin,” he says of the 2022 game which Ireland won 23-12 and from there went on to win 32-22 in Wellington and clinch the series.
“I was probably only new into the squad that year, and yeah, it was incredibly special.
“Some of the older lads (Sheehan is 27!) were talking about the times they’ve been to New Zealand before and hasn’t gone their way, and obviously, they’re an incredible outfit, especially at home.
“So, any good performance on New Zealand soil is something to remember and definitely stands out and we’ll be looking to recreate that.”
It’s a new group here for 2026 and looking to make a name for themselves.
“A lot of lads weren’t on that 2022 tour, so we got to sort of make our own history in that way.
“Eden Park is such an iconic venue in in world rugby and for us to have the opportunity to play here, it doesn’t come around very often.
“Obviously, I’ve been lucky enough to play here but it didn’t go our way the last time and I think the lads are very excited to play, especially to have the opportunity to play in Eden Park.
“It’s something that you never know if you are going to get another chance, we are all gunning inside.”
At the same time, Eden Park is a rugby pitch, it has the same dimensions as every other rugby pitch and Ireland’s call is to get out and play their own game their own way.
“I suppose we’re very performance-driven. We don’t need a whole lot of motivating factors.
“We think that the Irish Jersey does it for us, and we’re very proud to represent our people at home and the group that we have here.
“That’s the sort of emotion we’ve kind of gone after this this week and that’s probably similar to how we’ve done it in campaigns past.
“I think we’ve focused on making sure that we do the people proud back home, and all the support we’ll have tomorrow.
“That’s just the way we’ve shaped the week, shaped the last two games in this campaign, to make sure that we’re representing the people back home.”
Meanwhile Sheehan believes Ireland have a ‘secret weapon’ on the bench, Sean Jansen’s arrival has been real one of quality.
“It’s my first sort of campaign with Sean, and he’s been unbelievable. “You know, every time we come up against him in Connacht, he’s probably the one person we talk about that you need to manage.
“What a player, what a ball carrier in attack, he brings incredible energy. I thought he was unbelievable last week.
“Exactly what you want from a debut is to stand out and and do your thing, and he did it in spades. It’s brilliant, he gets his reward tomorrow, and hopefully he has a similar game off the bench.”