The All Blacks, it seems, are not quite as vulnerable as everybody at this World Cup had hoped.

There was a point on Saturday night in Yokohama when Kieran Read gathered his troops about him and told everyone to just take five.

There was a point during New Zealand’s media duties yesterday when Ben Smith turned towards Aaron Smith and suggested that this latest Q&A was turning into some sort of counselling session.

New Zealand centre Sonny Bill Williams has hit out at media claims that he is "under pressure" to make the All-Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand remain hopeful that Brodie Retallick will be available for Rugby World Cup selection after the lock dislocated his shoulder during the Rugby Championship clash against South Africa on Saturday.

The All Blacks may have suffered a major blow to their chances of retaining the Rugby World Cup after influential lock Brodie Retallick left today's 16-all draw with South Africa with an injury.

South Africa produced late drama to hold New Zealand to a 16-16 draw in their Rugby Championship clash at Wellington.

World Cup winner Dan Carter would not be out of place in the All Blacks squad at the global showpiece in Japan later this year if selectors sent him an SOS to fill the gap left by the injured Damian McKenzie, former coach Graham Henry has said.

As the Six Nations kicks off, New Zealand All Blacks are being fed slowly back into their respective Super Rugby franchises ahead of the new campaign — but with more than an eye on the World Cup and beyond. Paul Cully in Dunedin explains.

New Zealand’s rugby executives have had some time to digest the implications of Steve Hansen’s announcement here Friday that he will bring a 16-year association with the All Blacks to an end after next autumn’s World Cup, writes Ronan O’Gara

57% of those watching TV at the time were watching the match on RTÉ2.

The Munster man said victory over the All Blacks was "a seismic victory for Ireland."

"Ireland can now claim to be the best team in the world after producing a stunning performance that was brave, creative and relentless."

Kieran Read has challenged New Zealand to hit new heights in order to beat Ireland in Dublin.

Joe Schmidt would have been foolish not to factor the expected high-intensity physicality between his Ireland side and the All Blacks tomorrow into his preparations for this sell-out blockbuster.

Ahead of Saturday's showdown between the top two teams in the world, Simon Lewis takes a look at three key match-ups to look out for.

Skirt through the many articles devoted to the raft of All Black retirements after the 2015 World Cup and odds are that the photos alongside them carry the photogenic face of Dan Carter or Richie McCaw’s spiky ruggedness.

Bundee Aki’s place in a Test opposition dressing room has come under fire in the New Zealand media this week but Connacht and Ireland team-mate Kieran Marmion believes the Auckland-born centre is relishing the opportunity to go toe to toe with the All Blacks tomorrow.

Wayne Smith’s choice of reading material, when the All Blacks landed in Ireland back in 2005, was instructive.

When we set about measuring tomorrow’s test match in Dublin on rugby’s Richter scale, the most appropriate device might be perspective.

Joe Schmidt predicted a spiky and manic contest with the All Blacks this Saturday after naming his Ireland side to face the world champions in Dublin.

They say the sixteenth man can make the difference in rugby - and that was quite literally the case for Ireland when they took on the mighty All Blacks in 1989.

Andy Farrell has beaten the All Blacks with three different teams but even from that unique perspective, he is unwavering in his assessment that the world champions represent a defence coach’s biggest test.

It’s an experience that Ireland would rather bury under the mountain of days and weeks that have built up since but Beauden Barrett was more than happy to dig deep into the memory vault yesterday when talk turned to his All Black debut.

So much for Steve Hansen’s “Irish trick” then.

It is remarkable to think there are still some things that represent a fresh challenge to an Ireland player set to win his 72nd cap this weekend, but for Keith Earls, playing against the All Blacks is one of them.

Like many mad-keen young rugby players, Jacob Stockdale grew up playing Jonah Lomu Rugby on his games console and idolising the All Blacks.

No sooner had the plane carrying the New Zealand squad from Heathrow taxied to its arrivals slot at Dublin Airport the shadow boxing kicked off.

Whenever in football it’s announced in advance that a certain manager will be finishing up with a particular team at the end of the season, the reflex in this part of the world is to reference the example of Alex Ferguson back in 2001-02.

Ryan Crotty knows what his name means to folks in these parts.

Johnny Sexton has admitted it would have been a “big ask” for Conor Murray to have faced the All Blacks this weekend and the Ireland scrum-half not playing was “the smart thing”.

Conor Murray and Robbie Henshaw have been ruled out of the rest of the November series.

Ngani Laumape scored a hat-trick and George Bridge came off the bench to mark his debut with two tries as New Zealand beat Japan 69-31 in Tokyo.

Any sensible culture recognises the line between folklore and fact — but that does not mean one cannot feed the other to inspire and to authenticate.

Jim Cook The All Blacks have taken the unprecedented step of naming a player based in Japan among an enlarged 51-man squad for autumn test matches against Australia, Japan, England, Ireland, and Italy.

New Zealand scored five second-half tries as they came from behind to thrash Australia 38-13 in the opening game of the Rugby Championship in Sydney.

Beauden, Jordie, and Scott Barrett will become the first trio of brothers to start a Test together for the All Blacks when they line up in the series-opener against France at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.

To describe this great team of Jim Gavin’s, Ciarán Whelan turns to capital sage Jimmy Rabbitte for inspiration.

Flanker Mika played seven Tests for the All Blacks and was a member of their 1999 World Cup squad.

Ireland look set to meet the All Blacks again after Joe Schmidt revealed the world champions have been lined up for next November’s autumn internationals.

Ireland look set to meet the All Blacks again after Joe Schmidt revealed the world champions have been lined up for next November’s autumn internationals.

It says much about the character of Colin Meads that when he unveiled a bronze statue of himself in his hometown of Te Kuiti earlier this summer, the All Black legend felt the need to apologise to the large crowd that had gathered in tribute to him.