Overview
- Kick-off is at 8.10pm GMT at Soldier Field in Chicago for the latest autumn international between Ireland and New Zealand.
- Andy Farrell resumes Ireland head coach duties after his British & Irish Lions sabbatical, with questions lingering over the squad’s age profile.
- Stand-in captain Dan Sheehan says the players feel massive excitement about building new memories in Chicago.
- The meeting evokes Ireland’s first-ever win over the All Blacks in 2016 at Soldier Field and recalls rivalry touchpoints such as the reported 1989 face-off with the haka, with New Zealand winning the last two encounters including 23-13 in Dublin last November.
- Scott Robertson’s All Blacks arrive after losing the Rugby Championship to South Africa on points difference following a mixed set of recent results.