All Blacks to blast through the back

FORMER Irish coach Warren Gatland believes Ireland’s back-row could run into trouble when they meet the All Blacks in Hamilton on Saturday.

Gatland views Ireland’s trio of Denis Leamy, Simon Best and David Wallace as inferior to All Black opponents Richie McCaw, Marty Holah and Rodney So’oialo.

“It’s not so much that they are short of skill; far from it, but Ireland will really be playing without a specialist open-side flanker, while New Zealand have two in McCaw and Holah. Because of that, they’re going to have to do an awful lot of work to gain parity at the breakdown, and that’s a crucial area these days,” says Gatland.