![\"Jordie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5154056_3_articleinline_jordie_1_.jpg\" "\\"Jordie")
Jordie Barrett gestures during the New Zealand All Blacks captain’s run at Hnry Stadium on July 10, 2026 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nLooking for any little edge to keep the All Blacks\u2019 32-year, 51-Test winning streak alive at the Auckland venue, Rennie said he had confirmed a few things with star back Jordie Barrett, who enjoyed a spell with Leinster in the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we had a leaders\u2019 meeting last night, and so we did get him to confirm some of our thoughts,\u201d said Rennie, who is preparing for his third Test in charge of the All Blacks since sensationally replacing Scott Robertson.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just Barrett sharing the inside oil either, with Rennie drafting in outside back Rieko Ioane, who just enjoyed his own sabbatical with the URC heavyweights, to the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
What insights they offered to the All Blacks about the Leinster-heavy Irish remained closely guarded, but Rennie played down the inside mail given how much rugby has been played between the two nations over the past four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, a lot of our guys have played the Irish a lot, I know a lot about them,\u201d Rennie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon the boys watch a lot more Northern Hemisphere footy than they might have half a dozen years ago, and so know a lot about the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, of course, the Irish have commanded a lot of respect through what they’ve achieved. So, yeah, we know what’s coming and we’re going to have to be very good in a lot of areas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jordie Barrett gestures during the New Zealand All Blacks captain’s run at Hnry Stadium on July 10, 2026 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing knowing what\u2019s coming, but it\u2019s another stopping it.<\/p>\n
Four years ago the All Blacks couldn\u2019t stop the Irish wave, with Andy Farrell\u2019s men coming from one Test down to win an epic series 2-1.<\/p>\n
But their one Test defeat occurred at Eden Park, with the All Blacks prevailing 42-19.<\/p>\n
Already Farrell has come out publicly and said Ireland firmly have their eyes on ending the All Blacks\u2019 winning run at Eden Park.<\/p>\n
That comes with its own pressure for Rennie, but the new All Black coach said he wasn\u2019t spending anytime considering the factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something I’ll reflect on because I don’t think it helps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just about us getting our prep right and our mindset right and performing well, and there’s a lot of motivating factors for our boys wearing the All Black jersey and I guess that whole fortress mindset at Eden Park is one of those.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did, however, admit it will be nice having support thrown his way this time, having lost on several occasions at the venue during his tenure with the Wallabies.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it’s always nice to go to Eden Park. It’ll be nice having a lot of supporters cheering for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, it’s been a fortress, but what’s happened in the past counts for little. It’s about us making sure we get our prep right and mindset right to play against an Irish side who last time they toured this country, they won a series.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Rennie didn\u2019t necessarily think the All Blacks\u2019 rivalry with Ireland was anything special, he said the three-time world champions had plenty of respect for Farrell\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re well aware of their ability, and they’ll come and genuinely believe they can beat us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re a quality side. They’ve got a lot of strong connections, a lot of guys who have played an enormous amount of footy together over the last few years, and they’re very well coached, so they\u2019ll be well prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re very skilful, their forwards have got a really good short passing game. They’ll ask lots of questions of us there and at set-piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefensively, their ability to fill the field\u2026 they’re a good side. We’ve got to be patient in an effort to break them down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that the All Blacks needed to slow Ireland\u2019s ruck speed to take away the threat of halfback Jamison Gibson-Park and his halves partner Sam Prendergast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, Leinster have had a massive influence on Irish rugby for a lot of years. I like their combinations, really strong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamison is a big part of their success. We need to make life difficult for him so he can’t play on the front foot and apply pressure that way. They’re both very good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rennie also knows a couple of Ireland\u2019s major threats, having coached Bundee Aki when the veteran centre burst on the scene at the Chiefs more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he was the one that got away, Rennie played a straight bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I mean, we can reflect on lots of guys who have left and gone on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames Lowe fits in that bracket as well, but Bundee went early. He spent \u201812 and \u201813 with us at the Chiefs and then maybe \u201814 and then left and got a great opportunity, obviously through Pat Lam.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I don’t think he’s got any regrets around his decision. There’s a number of players who’ve done the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Looking for any little edge to keep the All Blacks\u2019 32-year, 51-Test winning streak alive at the Auckland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-547203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547203","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=547203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}