The Irish rugby team have been preparing extra hard to face the mighty All Blacks at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday in the final match of the Autumn International series. Following their disappointing performance against Australia on Saturday, there has been a real sense that the squad are determined to put things right. Unfortunately, they now face a New Zealand side hoping to complete the calender year unbeaten with an impressive 14 wins out of 14 games.
It will be the third game for the new Ireland rugby coach, Joe Schmidt, who has had to deal with a whole host of injuries to some key players including Brian O’Driscoll and Johnny Sexton. It promises to be a full house and a great atmosphere at the redeveloped Lansdowne Road with the free flowing World Champions in town. The All Blacks have made the short trip to Ireland following their close fought victory over England at Twickenham last weekend.
Some of the New Zealand players could have been mistaken for being on an Ireland golf vacation as they took time out to practise their golf swings during some ‘down time’ at Castleknock Golf Club. No doubt they will be fully focused on the challenge the ‘boys in green’ pose on Sunday in what should be a cracking encounter.