Ireland have new plans for All Blacks in quarter-final, says Cian Healey
Preparing to face New Zealand tends to keep defence coaches up all night. Since the last World Cup, the holders have scored 267 tries in 49 Tests, armed with attacking invention only Japan are able to rival.
The All Blacks have failed to score a try in only two of those games, against the 2017 British & Irish Lions in the second Test and in Dublin last November when Ireland defeated them 16-9. The common denominator was Ireland’s Andy Farrell, the defence coach jettisoned by England after the 2015 World Cup, who is again plotting the downfall this weekend of a side last defeated at a Rugby World Cup in the 2007 quarter-final against France.
“I don’t know, you will have to ask him,” said the All Blacks attack coach, Ian Foster, when asked how Farrell managed to find ways of stalling New Zealand’s turbo-charged engine. “He does a job based on what he sees and so do we. We are assuming based on past behaviour that they will come up with a plan that they think is good enough to beat us. Will that involve some special plays? Probably.”
Make that definitely. “We have some new stuff that we have not done before,” the Ireland prop Cian Healy said. “We have beaten them a couple of times in the last few years but this is a World Cup quarter-final. It is different.” Asked if it was the biggest match of his career, he replied: “Definitely. It is a do-or-die game. We all understand that.”
It took Ireland 111 years to defeat the All Blacks but they have won two of their past three Tests against a side aiming to win a third successive World Cup. Their coach, Joe Schmidt, who is standing down after the tournament, came up with a set-piece play last November that the New Zealander had borrowed from the All Blacks and does not want this phase of his career to be ended by his compatriots.
“I am sure Ireland will be primed and ready,” Foster said. “We were beaten by a good team last November, but that was a different time, a different place. Is it relevant? We don’t get stuck in the past: it is more about the excitement of the challenges in front of us. This is a week we have been preparing for a long time. It is where you really test yourself.”
Ireland suffered a blow this week when their centre Bundee Aki was suspended for three weeks after being sent off last week against Samoa for a high tackle. They are waiting for the written report from the disciplinary panel before deciding whether to appeal, but on past precedent this tournament their chance of success would be remote.
“Bundee is nowhere near a dirty player and he was upset about the decision, rightfully so,” said the Ireland forwards coach, Simon Easterby. “Until we have seen the report and know how the panel came to that decision, we cannot make any further comment while preparing for the match on the basis that he will to be available.”
Easterby said that the key to success in their first World Cup meeting against New Zealand since 1995, when Jonah Lomu announced himself on the world stage with two tries in Johannesburg, would again be defence against a side adept at the counter-attack that is averaging 5.4 tries a match in the last four years.
“We will need to be on the money without the ball,” said Easterby. “They have so many threats across the park that you cannot switch off for a minute. We cannot afford to give them any soft turnover opportunities and will have to be fully on our game.”