All Blacks ready to ‘clean Ireland off the park’, says Flavell

TROY Flavell claims New Zealand have the potential to “clean Ireland off the park” in the second Test in Auckland tomorrow.

The hosts are seeking to sweep the series after Flavell’s try decided a tight first Test last week.

The Auckland lock, who will make his first start in five years this weekend, came off the bench in Hamilton and went over to seal a 34-23 success for the All Blacks, and he is now cranking up the pressure on the tourists.

The 28-year-old said: “They managed to slow our ball down at the breakdown, which was pretty crucial for us because it slowed a lot of our phase (play) down.

“Their scrummaging wasn’t that flash, but they competed well on our ball in the lineout.

“But we would like to think that if we play to our potential, we will clean them off the field.

“The guys are training well. We’ve looked at what went wrong last week and rectified that.

“I hope last week was just a bit of cobwebs that needed blowing out and we were a little bit rusty.”

Graham Henry has made three changes to his side, with Flavell at lock, Jerome Kaino at flanker and Casey Laulala at centre.

Laulala, also returning to the starting line-up after missing the 2005 campaign, is eager to pit his wits against Brian O’Driscoll.

Laulala said: “It’s good when you have guys who only try to take the outside because you only have the one option in the tackle.

“But with O’Driscoll, he can go in and out — it’s a bit different.

“But nothing changes. You just have to stick to your lines, give him one option and hopefully not give him too much space to run.

“When you are confident, you just keep doing it and improve on it. You concentrate on playing well and it comes naturally.”