THE HEAT IS ON
Kiwi captain Read expecting an ‘awesome Test match’ as his side prepare for a battle
NEW ZEALAND captain Kieran Read is expecting ‘a lot of heat’ when rugby’s two best teams face off at Lansdowne Road tonight.
The All Blacks are top of the world rankings with Ireland — who will start Josh van der Flier at open-side after Dan Leavy was ruled out with ‘tightness’ yesterday — in second and Read believes the elite level of the contest has added an extra edge.
‘There is going to be a lot of emotion and a lot of heat, which is what you want to see when two big teams come up against each other, it will be an awesome Test match,’ said Read.
‘Physicality and intensity wins Test matches so we are going to have to be right up there.
‘We are going to need the best performance of our season, the way the Irish have been playing. We have prepared as well as we can physically and we are going to go out there and give it our all.’
Van der Flier is set to win his 12th cap for Joe Schmidt’s men and has been in fine form for Leinster this season since returning from long-term injury. His place on the bench will be filled by Ulster’s Jordi Murphy.
Ireland captain Rory Best accepted that the team will need to improve significantly on the performance that saw off Argentina 28-17 last weekend, if they are to beat New Zealand.
The hooker also acknowledged that, having not played Test rugby since the Grand Slam win in Twickenham last March, he was off the pace himself against the Pumas.
‘You are always looking to improve,’