New Zealand vs Ireland Predictions - All Blacks to retain unbeaten Eden Park record

Ralph Staniforth

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Last updated: 3 hours ago

Ralph Staniforth 3 hours ago

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New Zealand remain unbeaten at Eden Park and are favorites.
Ireland are expected to keep the deficit under 10.5 points.
All Blacks' recent performance has been inconsistent despite wins.

All Blacks to make it three from three in Nations Championship (Getty Images)

New Zealand vs Ireland Predictions

Ireland once again look a strong outfit but not remotely as good as the side that beat the All Blacks in 2022. However, New Zealand have not been particularly brilliant in the last two weeks, despite winning. I am backing Ireland to get within the 10.5 handicap.

New Zealand vs Ireland Predictions
Head to Head
New Zealand Form
Ireland Form
New Zealand vs Ireland Sarting Lineups

New Zealand have won 7 of their last 8 matches.
New Zealand are 52 matches unbeaten at Eden Park.
New Zealand have won their last 3 matches against Ireland.
Ireland have won their last 2 matches away to New Zealand.

Head to Head

New Zealand have won their last three matches against Ireland. When they last met in New Zealand (2022), Ireland won the series 2-1. New Zealand are unbeaten in 52 matches at Eden Park, the venue for this clash.

New Zealand Form

New Zealand have secured two wins in the opening two rounds of the Nations Championship, much as was expected. They made tough work of France in round one though, sneaking through 34-32 in the end.

Last weekend, the same struggles game to the fore against Italy in the first half. The All Blacks couldn’t get a proper foothold in the game and only managed to lead 14-10 at the break.

As Italy tired in the second 40, New Zealand put it together and ran out 47-17 winners on the day. Despite being quite inconsistent in performance, the All Blacks have still won seven of their last eight matches.

Ireland Form

Ireland have been in transition since the conclusion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup after many standout performers retired. While their level has dropped, they have still maintained decent results over the last three years.

In 2026, the Irish are slowly returning to being a top nation but with many younger players, performances can be inconsistent. However, they still managed to beat Australia 33-31 in round one of the Nations Championship despite trailing by 12 at the break.

Last weekend, against Japan, Ireland won 36-20 in what was a competitive match with Ireland only really pulling away in the final 20 minutes. However, they also never really got out of second gear in the game.

New Zealand vs Ireland Sarting Lineups

New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.

Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Anton Segner, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Caleb Clarke

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadgh Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Tom O’Toole.

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki.