Dave Rennie\u2019s new-look All Blacks.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n Ireland has been limited to just 13 points in their past two defeats to the All Blacks as well, with linebreaks and scoring opportunities few and far between.<\/p>\n
And if the opening two Nations Championship fixtures are anything to go by, Ireland will need to score points against the All Blacks, who beat France 34-32 before running away from Italy to win 47-17 in Wellington last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way most games are going, they’re high-scoring games and they’ve been nail-biters to the end, so we need to make sure that we’re on it for 80 minutes,\u201d Sheehan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the All Blacks have maybe been shaken for 20-minute periods here and there over the last few weeks, but they’ve got some serious power for 80 minutes, so we need to make sure we deliver an 80 minute performance and hopefully we’re in it at the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As well as wanting to make history, Ireland are hoping the win is the springboard they need ahead of next year\u2019s World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\n
While Ireland knows more than most that success 12 months out from a World Cup is no guarantee of making a long run at the tournament, Sheehan said they were approaching the Test like a do-or-die game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the hardest conditions against the best teams and this is it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, we’re trying to get ready for a World Cup like everyone else and to have the opportunity to play here against an in-form All Blacks team is exactly what we need. Test us against the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were to shy away from these opportunities, we’d be in the wrong game. It’s definitely a big window of our prep going into next year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fact that Dave Rennie has left Beauden Barrett out of his matchday squad for the third straight Test speaks of the depth and quality that the All Blacks have.<\/p>\n
Rennie has thrown rising Hurricanes out-half Ruben Love into the pressure-cooker position, hoping to expose him to the rigours of international rugby after being on the periphery over the past two years under former coach Scott Robertson.<\/p>\n
A running threat just like Barrett was a decade ago when he was the last playmaker to lead the Hurricanes to a Super Rugby title, Love has also benefited from having Damian McKenzie at fullback to take some of the pressure off him.<\/p>\n
Sheehan said they would naturally go after Love but said they couldn\u2019t afford to focus purely on the 25-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get after a lot of people, there’s a long list of All Blacks that we need to get after,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if we put our sole focus on Ruben, someone else will show up, so they’ve got a wide variety of talents there, so I think we need to stick together and make sure we’ve got all bases covered, rather than targeting individuals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just Prendergast who needs to be pin-point accurate either, with Sheehan needing to be at his absolute best.<\/p>\n
The hooker admitted that Ireland hadn\u2019t been at their best throughout their opening two matches on tour despite chalking up wins, but added they were making progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw improvements in all the campaigns we’ve had this year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe probably had a slow start and built nicely through it. So hopefully we get the best we’ve seen this year tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked how confident he was that the lineout issues that had plagued them recently had been ironed out, Sheehan shot back: \u201cVery confident.\u201d We won\u2019t have to wait long to find out if that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n
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