Andy Farrell: Let's deliver 'performance of our lives' in Auckland

BREAKING FREE: Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale looks to evade the challenge of Japan's Jack Cornelsen in Saturday's Nations Championship Series meeting in Newcastle. Pic: Ben Brady, Inpho

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Andy Farrell says Ireland are out to end the All Blacks’ 32-year, 51-Test unbeaten streak at Eden Park.

But the bullish Irish coach admits they will have to deliver the “performance of our lives” to topple the All Blacks at their “Mecca”.

“We’re the lucky ones,” Farrell said. “We have a shot at doing something that nobody’s ever done, and nobody’s done it, certainly in the last while, for a reason; because it’s their Mecca, it’s their ground where they tend to attack the game, and we’ve been on the end of that, I’ve been on the end of that plenty of times.

“But this is a one-off chance, and we’ve got to see what we’re made of. That’s it. All you can do is be the best version of yourselves and see what that type of opportunity can bring out in you, but there has to be a realisation of what you’re coming up against as well.”

Farrell was speaking moments after admitting to being “relieved” at beating Japan 36-20 in Newcastle to keep their unbeaten start to the Nations Championship alive.

While Ireland were far from perfect — their set-piece was again woefully inadequate — Farrell’s second-string side did enough to get over the line against Eddie Jones’s side.

The Test was just as much about winning as it was about exposing their next generation (four players debuted, including player of the match Sean Jansen), getting minutes into others (Robbie Henshaw played his first Test of 2026) and broadening the base ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Even Farrell admitted he had more than half an eye on the All Blacks’ 47-17 win over Italy, too.

“We watched it all,” he said. “We had a bit of a loosener for lads, a bit of a power-up we call it, and a skills fire-up after that whilst the game was on. I didn’t watch the skills, I watched the game.

“Italy obviously did really well, but obviously the quality came through, and they’ve got what they’ve got, and the talent that they’ve got, and the individual class, strength, power, and all of that, so it’ll be a nice evening for them, I’m sure.”

While Ireland will all but certainly go into the Test as underdogs, having hardly set the world alight on their opening two matches on tour, Farrell said they were ready to take the next step and was acutely aware of the challenge that lay ahead.

He said: “The spirit’s as high as it can be, but at the same time, the determined mood and the confidence that we need to build from Monday onwards has to build up to something that probably has to be the performance of our lives, knowing what it means to them, and also what an opportunity it is for us.”

Farrell knows exactly what Ireland is walking into.

In 2017, he was Warren Gatland’s right-hand man when the British and Irish Lions were put to the sword by the All Blacks in the first Test at Eden Park, before winning the next and drawing the series finale in Auckland.

Five years later, Ireland was thumped at Eden Park before going onto win the series 2-1. But the two victories came in Dunedin and Wellington.

Since then, Ireland have suffered three straight defeats to the All Blacks, including their heartbreaking 2023 World Cup quarter-final defeat at the Stade de France.

Farrell said: “They’ve belted me a good few times, so I’ve been on the receiving end a good few times, so yeah, for what’s gone in the past, I’m sure that’ll count for a little bit of something, but a new coaching team, a new set-up, all of that will certainly build us a little bit more of a one-off game.”

So what can Ireland expect from the 2026 All Blacks, who snuck past France and finished over the top of Italy, under new coach Dave Rennie?

Farrell said: “Well, it’s the way that Dave Rennie’s teams have played, from the Chiefs days to the Glasgow days, and we’ve seen how he likes to play the game: A fast, ball-in-hand type game, speed of ruck and physicality to go with it, so we know what’s coming up for us. We’ve got to do our homework to be able to stop it, that’s for sure.”

Most pressing for Ireland is to shore up their set-piece, having twice struggled in the area down under.

Farrell said: “There’s all sorts of stuff that we need to improve on and get better at to play against a top-quality side like New Zealand, but [the] set-piece is always going to be right up there at top of the list, isn’t it, in an international game, especially one of this ilk.”

Helping Ireland’s case is that Farrell is likely to have a healthy squad to pick from for their season finale.

“Nobody’s spoken about last game of the season or whatever, so that’s good, they seem to be enjoying themselves,” Farrell said.

It’s a good thing too, because Ireland is staring at Mount Everest.