We traded wins with the World Cup champions. Next up, the team they beat in the final.
Ireland have well and truly mixed it with the best team in world rugby.
No-one who was in Chicago on November 5 will ever forget the feeling of elation as 111 years of hurt and pain were dashed. Ireland won in style and basked in the adulation from a packed out Soldier Field.
Two weeks later and the All Blacks exacted an exacting revenge. There were casualties up and down the pitch and howls of derision from the home crowd but New Zealand left with the victory.
On to the next one. The Kiwis will play France in Paris while Ireland host Australia at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland could well be without four senior players for the game, next Saturday [5:30pm], but Joe Schmidt was always likely to make some tweaks and freshen up his XV.
Looking ahead to the Six Nations, and going by injury updates, we are making FIVE changes to the Ireland team to face Australia.
The front row has excelled in the two All Blacks games so, if they all train okay, they need to start again. Iain Henderson deserves a start in the second row so we are placing him alongside Devin Toner and putting a fit again Ultan Dillane on the bench.
The back row may well be without CJ Stander so the obvious replacement is Munster teammate Peter O’Mahony. He trained fully last Thursday and looked decent against Canada.
Conor Murray to begin at No.9 with Paddy Jackson beside him. Johnny Sexton has a fresh hamstring injury but will be eager to play. We feel Schmidt should give Jackson the start though. We are far too over-reliant on Sexton at present.
We are keeping the wingers unchanged as the rest of the backline may need surgery. The least disruptive midfield change is to swap in Luke Marshall for the banged up Robbie Henshaw. That means keeping Garry Ringrose in reserve again.
Rob Kearney was another player that had a suspected concussion. Even if he meets all his Return to Play protocols, he would not be able to train until midweek. Tiernan O’Halloran made a good case for himself against Canada and could add some serious wheels to the Irish backline.
Replacements: S Cronin, Healy, Bealham, Dillane, van der Flier, Marmion, Carbery, Ringrose.
Aaron Kernan joins Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour to explain the work he’s doing for the Club Players Association. Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue talks Slaughtneil and a Dublin club advertising for hurlers gets a sore touch. Subscribe here on iTunes.
