{"id":555683,"date":"2026-07-18T07:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/555683\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T07:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:10:17","slug":"ireland-v-new-zealand-live-updates-both-sides-out-to-continue-winning-nations-championship-run-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/555683\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland v New Zealand live updates: Both sides out to continue winning Nations Championship run \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nations Championship: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 8.10am Irish time<\/p>\n

Local school choir sings the anthems in Auckland. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s an, ahem, interesting rendition of Ireland\u2019s Call. Not as bad as the infamous 2023 World Cup when a young choir butchered France\u2019s anthem ahead of the tournament\u2019s first match. <\/p>\n

Ah maybe I\u2019m being harsh. Kids are never always in tune. <\/p>\n

Just over 15 minutes to go until kick-off at Eden Park. New Zealand are 12 point favourites here – what do we reckon?<\/p>\n

The last time these two sides met, the All Blacks won by 13 in Soldier Field last November. <\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland lost to New Zealand in Chicago last year. Photograph: Michael Reaves\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Speaking of New Zealand\u2019s unbeaten run at Eden Park, stretching to 52 games now, JOhn O\u2019Sullivan has cast a look on the nature of the matches involved. <\/p>\n

Is the record all it\u2019s cracked up to be? Read more here.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The standing joke about New Zealand\u2019s unbeaten 52-match winning streak at Eden Park since France won 23-20 in 1994 is that the All Blacks choose the opposition wisely at a given point in time and only face teams at the Auckland venue if the home team is confident about their prospects.<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0John O’Sullivan\"NewNew Zealand have not lost at Eden Park since 1994. Photograph: Shane Wenzlick\/AFP via Getty Images. <\/p>\n

Looks like a dry, clear night in Eden Park!<\/p>\n

New Zealand have not lost at this venue since 1994. Ireland, of course, won on their last visit to Kiwi soil, securing the series 2-1, but those two victories came in Wellington. <\/p>\n

\" Ireland’s Hugo Keenan inspects the pitch ahead of the match. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho \"AA general view of Eden Park ahead of the match. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho \"IrelandIreland fans in Auckland City ahead of the game. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Speaking of Howlett, his All Black try-scoring record was broken last week by Will Jordan. A man who knows what it\u2019s like to score against Ireland, Jordan reached the 50-try mark against Italy last time out. <\/p>\n

That took him past Howlett on 49 and into a league of his own atop the try-scoring charts for men in the black jersey. 50 tries in 56 matches for Jordan, an astonishing conversion rate of 0.89 tries per game. <\/p>\n

\"WillWill Jordan scores for the All Blacks against Italy. Photograph: Phil Walter\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Gerry Thornley is in Auckland and he\u2019s caught up with a man who had a profound effect on both Irish and Kiwi rugby, Doug Howlett.<\/p>\n

The former All Black record try scorer and Munster wing had plenty to say, especially when it came to his own experiences at Thomond Park and how he views the province these days after a difficult period. <\/p>\n

You can read Gerry\u2019s interview with Howlett here.<\/a> <\/p>\n

I just feel, what\u2019s happening at the moment, they\u2019re going to find it difficult to attract international players, or top-notch international players, and allow them to have the experience that I had; that uplifting effect the Munster rugby team could have for the whole region.<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Doug Howlett\"DougDoug Howlett during his time at Munster. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

It\u2019s early, I know. A good way of staying awake until kick-off? Listen to our most recent Counter Ruck podcast where we delve into everything to watch out for in this one. <\/p>\n

Need a clever thought on Ireland\u2019s backrow combination to send into the WhatsApp group? This has you covered. <\/p>\n

\"\"Underdog Ireland gear up for All Blacks test<\/p>\n

And in the black corner… <\/p>\n

Here are the All Blacks. Personally, I can\u2019t wait to see how Ruben Love gets on at 10. <\/p>\n

Jordie Barrett is a familiar face at 12, offering another playmaking outlet alongside love and Damian McKenzie at fullback. <\/p>\n

We begin, as we always do, with a reminder of the Irish team. The good news is that Rob Baloucoune\u2019s pesky hamstring allows him to finally make an appearance on this tour, the Ulster man back in the 14 shirt which he made his own with a stellar Six Nations. <\/p>\n

Elsewhere it\u2019s more or less as expected after Andy Farrell rotated for last week\u2019s Japan game. Jimmy O\u2019Brien getting the nod at left wing over Jamie Osborne is an interesting one perhaps, but for all his quality, I think we can say at this stage that wing is not Osborne\u2019s top position. <\/p>\n

Robbie Henshaw is probably unfortunate to miss out on the 23 after impressing as one of Ireland\u2019s best players against Japan. Garry Ringrose comes back in to take the 13 shirt off him while Bundee Aki resumes his impact replacement role. <\/p>\n

After a fortnight which has seen Ireland\u2019s lineout struggle, Tadhg Beirne is named in the backrow as Ireland go for three locks in the run-on team with Joe McCarthy and James Ryan also featuring. <\/p>\n

Good morning everyone. <\/p>\n

Kudos if you\u2019re up early enough to read this. We love a good build-up period to Ireland matches on this blog (and crucially, so does Google) so here we all are at 6am. <\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it is a pleasure to have your company as we build up to Ireland\u2019s clash with the All Blacks at Eden Park, Auckland. Kick-off is at 8.10am Irish time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nations Championship: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 8.10am Irish time Local school choir sings the anthems…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1451,61,60,1449,86133,112],"class_list":["post-555683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-nations-championship","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555683","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=555683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}