These sides clashed most recently at Croke Park in November 2008, in what was Declan Kidney's second match in charge of Ireland. That day, Ireland had a single penalty from Ronan O'Gara to show for their efforts as they fell to a disappointing 22-3 defeat.
Much has changed since then, the Kidney-led management team has bedded in and 2009 was a stellar year with the Six Nations and Triple Crown trophies, along with the Churchill Cup, shining brightly in the Irish trophy cabinet.
The recent Six Nations Championship finished on a frustrating note for Kidney's men, though, as Scotland picked off a notable Croke Park win. And with the Rugby World Cup little over a year away, this injury-hit Ireland squad ventures Down Under with plenty to play for.
There have been injuries aplenty in both camps ahead of this weekend's Test, and the door has been opened for hooker Sean Cronin to make his first start for Ireland and his Connacht colleague John Muldoon also gets a chance to impress in the back row.
In addition, there are two potential debutants on the Irish replacements bench in Leinster hooker John Fogarty and Ulster lock/back rower Dan Tuohy.
We will have live text commentary direct from Yarrow Stadium as Ireland begin their campaign Down Under.
This is shaping up to a huge encounter, so plug in the laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of Saturday's game live on IrishRugby.ie with thanks to O2, sponsors of MatchDay Live.
There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage as Brian O'Driscoll and company look to make it three games unbeaten against the Southern Hemisphere's big three - they beat South Africa and drew with Australia last November.
Starting at 8.15am with our pre-match build-up (the game kicks off at 8.35am Irish time/7.35pm local time), you can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live.
The match is being broadcast live on Sky Sports 1/HD1, and there will be extended highlights on RTE Two at 10pm.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section of this website, or simply click on the link below:
