Farrell hopes Sexton's All Blacks spat adds extra spice to Friday's clash

The Ireland head coach also explained why Peter O’Mahony and Iain Henderson were preferred on the bench to the likes of younger guns Cian Prendergast and Ryan Baird.

Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell after their side's defeat in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against New Zealand. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell dismissed the notion that revenge will be in the Dublin air when New Zealand take to the field at Aviva Stadium on Friday night. Yet the Ireland boss is also hoping the ongoing spat between All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane and former Irish captain Johnny Sexton that followed last year’s World Cup quarter-final defeat in Paris can add extra spice to the atmosphere generated by the sell-out crowd eagerly awaiting this renewal of rivalries.

There is little doubt that a meeting of these two nations has become essential viewing since Ireland ended 111 years of hurt and beat the All Blacks on that memorable day in Chicago in 2016. The return match two weeks later in Dublin stoked the fires a little more with Kieran Read’s world champions exacting brutal vengeance but Ireland’s four victories in the seven meetings since, including a series win on Kiwi soil in 2022, have brought this fixture to another level.