O2 MatchDay Live: New Zealand v Ireland
Seconds out, round two! Ireland will go toe-to-toe with the World champions again on Saturday, bidding to level the series with New Zealand and record an historic victory in the process. You can keep up-to-date with the second Test via our O2 MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
Beaten 42-10 in the opening match of the summer tour, Ireland will have to regain their poise quickly as they take on the All Blacks for the second week running.
Head coach Declan Kidney has made four changes to the team that lined out in Auckland, bringing Gordon D’Arcy and Andrew Trimble into the back-line and the fit-again Mike Ross and Kevin McLaughlin will both start up front.
D’Arcy returns to the starting line-up in place of the injured Keith Earls to partner Brian O’Driscoll for the 48th time, extending their world record centre partnership.
McLaughlin is part of an all-Leinster back row with number 8 Jamie Heaslip winning his 50th cap for Ireland. He made his debut against the Pacific Islanders at the old Lansdowne Road in November 2006.
Saturday’s encounter marks the first time Ireland have played New Zealand in a Test match in Christchurch. The All Blacks have not played in the city since 2010 when they Australia 20-10 in a Tri Nations match.
1998 was the last time the hosts lost a game in Christchurch, going down 27-23 to Australia.
A win over Ireland this weekend would give the All Blacks their 60th victory in 68 matches with flanker Richie McCaw as their captain.
Ireland came closest to a maiden Test victory over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil in Dunedin in 1992, when a Frank Bunce try gave the home side a narrow 24-21 win. The men in green went close again in another first Test in 2002, once again in Dunedin, when they were beaten 15-6.
We will have live text commentary direct from Christchurch as the O’Driscoll-captained team look to record Ireland’s first ever victory in 26 meetings with the All Blacks and keep the series alive.
Plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of the second Test live on IrishRugby.ie. There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage, with the game kicking off at 7.35pm New Zealand time/8.35am Irish time.
You can watch live TV coverage of the match on Sky Sports 2. Michael Corcoran will also be providing live commentary of the game on RTÉ Radio 1 (DAB, LW 252 and RTÉ.ie), with their coverage beginning shortly before kick-off.
Starting at 8am Irish time with our pre-match build-up, you can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
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