McNaughton: Croker crowd can inspire us to famous win

NEW Ireland manager Paul McNaughton believes the Croke Park crowd can play a major part when it comes to beating New Zealand for the first time in 22 meetings of the countries.

The score currently stands 20-0 to the All Blacks with one draw and realistically there seems no good reason why that should change after tomorrow evening’s clash. On the other hand, there is still a lot going for Brian O’Driscoll and his players on this occasion and chief among them has to be performing in front of 82,000 Irish supporters, something they’ve never had the chance to do before. And, of course, the fans will want to be part of a history making occasion.

“It will be a massive Irish support and they want to share in a history making game,’’ the former Ireland and Leinster centre pointed out. “You could say that the excitement has moved on from playing the first game at Croke Park and that now it’s just another stadium.