'It’s right up there with the Springboks in Joburg, isn’t it?' asks New Zealand head coach

A packed Aviva Stadium on a Friday night, and with fans availing of three hours in the bars after the nine-to-five is done, will amount to a giddy atmosphere and, lest we forget, Ireland are unbeaten on that patch of grass across the last 20 games.

6 November 2024; New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson during a training session at Wanderers Football Club in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

All has changed with the All Blacks. Utterly.

Some of that, like the tweaks to the way they do their media now and the switch from northside to southside Dublin after years billeted in the same hotel, are superficial. More of it goes to the core of this team and its very sense of self.

The cloak of invincibility has long since vanished, stripped away by the Springboks' return to the summit of the world game, and by the regular dents inflicted on their armour by their hosts this week that stretch back to Chicago in 2016.

If there is a sense of the rugby world having tilted on its axis this last decade then it is never more obvious on weeks where New Zealand meet Ireland. What was once a parade has now become a punishing, and oftentimes, unprofitable meeting for them.

A packed Aviva Stadium on a Friday night, and with fans availing of three hours in the bars after the nine-to-five is done, will amount to a giddy atmosphere and, lest we forget, Ireland are unbeaten on that patch of grass across the last 19 games.

“It’s right up there with the Springboks in Joburg, isn’t it?” said Robertson. “Teams that are on top of their game, away from home, full house, ferocious history, especially now. Yeah, it is right up there.” 

Change is everywhere you look in the visiting ranks.

Eight of the 23 that featured in last year’s World Cup final are unavailable this Friday because of injuries, retirements and moves to Japan and France.

Big names, huge stars, among them: Richie Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock… Overseeing all this is a new coaching staff headed by Scott Robertson that has already suffered three defeats in the Rugby Championships and used up a fair dollop of their luck this month by squeezing past England in London.

Robertson, who won so much during his long stint with the Crusaders, was the public’s choice long before he succeeded Ian Foster after the 2023 World Cup, but he was never going to wave a magic wand and make everything perfect again.

This, he said, is a job where lessons have to be learned quickly. Facing teams back-to-back, as they have done already with England and South Africa, has been another challenge.

And the absence of a pre-season leaves absolutely no room for error from the off.

Add in the harshest of spotlights at all times and it makes for something of a whirlwind.

“You've gotta be pretty confident, keep to the course as a person, you know, work in your new circle. Where do you stand? Who do you listen to, what's their point of view?

"But that comes as part of the job. Nothing really prepares you for that until you do it. I'm learning.”

Scott Robertson speaks to the press. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Robertson has made just the two changes from the side that got the win against England, both of them enforced.

Damian Mackenzie replaces Beauden Barrett at ten while Asafo Aumua comes in for Codie Taylor. Both of the absentees suffered head injuries last time.

It’s a continuity all the more notable for the fact that just six days will separate last week’s run and this one, but Robertson is keen to keep that level of cohesion and offered it up as a key reason for the success that Ireland have enjoyed in recent times.

Tadhg Furlong’s absence from the Irish front row will, he agreed, allow New Zealand to “see some opportunities”.

And Jonathan Sexton’s retirement is clearly one major difference from the Ireland the Kiwis will face now and the side they faced in France 13 months ago.

“Sexton’s excellent with what he can create. Kick to the corner, pass off the inside foot and can take a shot and make front and back-door reads. He’s pretty exceptional. He is one of a kind, so it is hard to compare. Jamison [Gibson-Park] is there and plays a big part.

“He is a hell of a local boy, isn’t he? Jokes aside, he has done some great things in his career. He is evergreen, just keeps going. A great international level player and he’s got a full bag of tricks and can command a test like no other.”

For ‘Razor’, this is a game that carries some added meaning again.

It’s just over 30 years since he pitched up in Ards to live with the Heron family and play some All-Ireland League ‘footy’.

Some of his hosts from back then will be in Ballsbridge on Friday and the Kiwi coach was slightly emotional when looking back on the time.

“I came down to watch a lot of the Five Nations games here in Dublin, so I understand how passionate they are. It was a great chance for me, it brought a lot of belief in how I could play. Going home, it really set me off to make sure I could get an education (sic).

“Then I wanted to play rugby at the highest level. So, it was good, it gave me a lot of confidence, like I said. It helped me grow up a little bit, get away from mum's dinners, look after myself and I made some really good friends.

"It was a great time in my life.”