Ireland get their November series underway as they take on New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday.<\/p>\n
This stadium was the venue for a famous win in 2016, as Ireland defeated the All Blacks for the first time in their history.<\/p>\n
Since that victory, it has been an even rivalry, with Ireland defeating the All Blacks for the first time in Ireland in 2018 and winning a series in New Zealand in 2022.<\/p>\n
However, New Zealand have won the last two games, including the 2023 World Cup quarter-final.<\/p>\n
With the focus turning to the 2027 World Cup, this is seen as a vital step on the journey, and a win would be a huge boost of confidence for this Ireland side.<\/p>\n
Here is all you need to know ahead of Ireland v New Zealand<\/p>\n
When is Ireland v New Zealand?<\/p>\n
Ireland v New Zealand is on Saturday November 1st, with kick-off at 8:10 pm Irish time.<\/p>\n
How can I watch the game?<\/p>\n
Live coverage will be shown on Virgin Media One from 7pm.<\/p>\n
Team News<\/p>\n
Jack Crowley gets the nod to start at fly-half ahead of Sam Prendergast, with the Munster man rewarded for his impressive start to the season.<\/p>\n
Stuart McCloskey starts at inside centre ahead of Bundee Aki, where he partners Garry Ringrose.<\/p>\n
Jamie Osborne starts at full back, with Tommy O’Brien and James Lowe on the wings.<\/p>\n
Caelan Doris would make his first appearance since May if he comes off the bench, while Paddy McCarthy could make his debut if he comes on.<\/p>\n
For New Zealand, Beauden Barrett starts at fly-half, with brothers Jordie and Scott also starting.<\/p>\n
Soon-to-be Leinster man Rieko Ioane has been left out of the squad completely, with Quinn Tupaea partnering Jordie Barrett in the centre.<\/p>\n
Ireland team to play New Zealand<\/p>\n
Jamie Osborne; Tommy O\u2019Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadhg Furlong; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.<\/p>\n
Replacements: R\u00f3nan Kelleher, Paddy McCarthy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Caelan Doris, Craig Casey, Sam Prendergast, Bundee Aki.<\/p>\n
New Zealand team to play Ireland:<\/p>\n
Will Jordan; Leroy Carter, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke; Beauden Barrett, Cam Roigard; Ethan De Groot, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland; Simon Parker, Ardie Savea, Peter Lakai. Replacements: Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho, Tamaiti Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Josh Lord, Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima, Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, Damian McKenzie.<\/p>\n
Form guide<\/p>\n
Ireland provided the bulk of the players who won the series for the British and Irish Lions in Australia.<\/p>\n
A weakened side managed by Paul O’Connell comfortably defeated Portugal and Georgia. Despite winning a Triple Crown, the Six Nations did not end as hoped, with a defeat at home to France ending their three-in-a-row hopes.<\/p>\n
For New Zealand, they will go into the game more fresh having concluded the Rugby Championship in September, where they finished second.<\/p>\n
The campaign included four wins and two losses, including a 43-10 defeat to South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland get their November series underway as they take on New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-115423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}