All Blacks offer benchmark for Irish great expectations

Victory for Ireland over New Zealand this evening won't wash away the pain of 14 October 2023.

- LUKE BAKER

Those 37 phases of agony, yet another World Cup quarter-final exit and four years to ponder just how they came out on the wrong side of one of the most thrilling Tests of all time.

But 13 months on, the smallest measure of vengeance can be exacted at the Aviva Stadium.

Whether Ireland genuinely deserve to be top of the current world rankings ahead of reigning World Cup and Rugby Championship winners South Africa can be debated. However, Andy Farrell’s men are undeniably in a position to make another statement in a year where they have already brushed aside any lingering disappointment over that Paris evening in October 2023 to claim another Six Nations title (albeit not a grand slam) and a hugely creditable series draw against the all-conquering Springboks on South African soil.

Truthfully, this Autumn Nations Series hasn’t really lined up perfectly for them. There’s no Springboks rematch scheduled and the flawed trio of Argentina, Fiji and Australia follow, rather than precede, the New Zealand clash.

“The All Blacks is the big one,” admits Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll. “It’s not just the memory of being beaten by them in the World Cup last year, you want to be getting the opportunity to play against them as much as you can.

“They’re a great team, even on their off days, and a tough team to beat. You get a really good sense of where your level is at when you play a team like them. It is about results and about developing, any time you play the best teams in the world, you want to beat them.