The Rugby World Cup quarter-finals continue with a titanic tussle between the All Blacks and the number-one ranked team in the world.
Ireland came in to the tournament as favourites and have lived up to that billing so far. A sensational performance in the pool stage saw Ireland overcome tough opposition in Scotland and South Africa as they topped Pool B.
Despite this, Ireland have developed a worrying habit of being eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup. This is now four World Cups in a row they have reached the quarter-final and the eight in their history. Not once have they progressed to the semi-finals.
New Zealand, on the other hand have reached the semi-finals in every edition of the World Cup, bar one.
New Zealand turned over Namibia, Italy and Uruguay in decisive fashion in their pool which was enough to secure their place in the quarter-finals. An opening game defeat to France will be cause for concern for New Zealand; the All Blacks performance falling well below expectations after their opening try.
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Mack Hansen and James Lowe were both forced off the field against Scotland but are expected to return to the starting line-up for Ireland.
Robbie Henshaw, Keith Earls and James Ryan are all in contention to be available despite their various injuries.
New Zealand appear to have a clean bill of health and the real selection headache for coach Ian Foster will be due to the form of Damian McKenzie and Leicester Fainga’anuku who are both pushing for starts on Saturday.
Date / Kick-Off Time / Venue / Channel
Saturday October 14th 2023 / 8PM BST / Stade de France, Saint-Denis / ITV1
