Irish Rugby

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Conor and Gavin reflect on Ireland's defeat to New Zealand in Chicago on the latest Ireland Rugby Social.

Former international scrum-half Murray breaks down the key moments from the match, including the controversial red card shown to Tadhg Beirne and its impact on the game.

He also tackles listener questions in the 'Get Involved' segment, responding to fan opinions and offering his take on what's next for Andy Farrell's side.

Expert analysis, honest reflection, and a look ahead to what promises to be a pivotal few weeks for Irish rugby.

Listen, download and subscribe now on BBC Sounds.

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Ireland head coach Andy Farrell believes "mental switch-offs" cost his side in their 26-13 defeat by New Zealand in Chicago.

The All Blacks scored four tries to Ireland's one in Soldier Field, but Farrell's side had led 13-7 at the hour mark despite spending a quarter of the game playing with 14 after lock Tadhg Beirne had his third-minute yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red.

Farrell thought his side managed the period with a player light "pretty well" and instead felt the game got away because of a lack of "sharpness" in the final quarter.

With 11 British and Irish Lions in Ireland's starting side, talk pre-match had been dominated by concerns over how that contingent would fare with so little rugby since the victorious summer series in Australia.

"It's what we talked about before the game, it's mental switch-offs, mental sharpness, lapses of concentration for two or three seconds, and you get hurt," said Farrell.

"I didn't think it was a fitness problem, it was a sharpness to our game that was the issue.

"It's something that we were aware of before the game, and it's something that you learn over the course of a season to get better at, but if you want to win big games like this, on big occasions like here in Soldier Field, that's what it's going to take, and we weren't good enough."

Farrell, who was coaching Ireland for the first time in 11 months after his Lions sabbatical, said his side will have to move forward "pretty quickly" after what is their third consecutive defeat by the All Blacks dating back to 2023's World Cup quarter-final in Paris.

Ireland will return home to play Japan, Australia and South Africa through the remainder of this month.

"I'm disappointed to lose any game. When you play a top-tier side, a world-class side like New Zealand, you always want to judge yourself against that type of opposition, and then you put the occasion and all that together and it hurts a little bit more," Farrell added.

"Understanding why that happened is obviously key for us now, and addressing all that, and making sure that we move forward pretty quickly for what is obviously a pretty important autumn coming up."

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Such has been the start to the season made by Jack Crowley, it did not register as a surprise that the 25-year-old was preferred in the Ireland 10 jersey to face the All Blacks.

The Munster man was the incumbent when this fixture was played in Dublin last year but, come the end of the autumn window, had lost his place to Leinster rival Sam Prendergast.

Prendergast started four of five in the Six Nations and the pair split time across the summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal but Crowley has led the Munster attack well in the opening weeks of the United Rugby Championship season, most notably against Leinster in Croke Park last time out.

In comparison to his confident start to the campaign, Prendergast has struggled in a Leinster side lacking rhythm.

Can Crowley transfer his club form back on to the international stage?

There's also been a change at fly-half for the All Blacks with Beauden Barrett returning.

The two-time World Rugby player of the year is now 34-years-old, and missed out against Australia last time out through injury.

With Richie Mo'unga set to return from Japan in the summer, and Damian McKenzie also having featured in the jersey this year, there is plenty of competition among All Blacks tens too.

At the start of a big autumn, a strong performance in Soldier Field would represent a significant marker for Barrett.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist in Chicago

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Ireland captain Dan Sheehan says his side are "ready to rip" into Saturday's Chicago Test against New Zealand as he brushed aside talk of the squad being "undercooked".

Sheehan is one of several Ireland players with only one game under his belt since the British and Irish Lions tour in the summer.

But the hooker insists Ireland will be ready for the latest chapter of their All Blacks rivalry at Soldier Field as Andy Farrell's team attempt to replicate the famous 2016 win over the southern hemisphere giants at the home of the Chicago Bears.

"I've seen a good bit [of talk] that we might be undercooked, but I don't think it's a massive part," said Sheehan, who will lead Ireland with squad skipper Caelan Doris on the bench.

"I think the way we've prepped over the last two weeks has been through real tough training [sessions] and we can take confidence from that and how we trained.

"Obviously a few lads have played a bit more game time but I think people are good and refreshed bodies ready to rip into Saturday."

While Ireland's frontline players have not played together since the Six Nations, New Zealand have completed a three-Test series against France and a six-game Rugby Championship campaign since July.

"We've obviously had two different journeys as teams over the last few months and you can look at it both ways," added Sheehan.

"Some are fresh, some are battle-hardened, whatever way you look at it. The reality is it doesn't matter.

"Both teams are full of world-class players and professionals that are well able to rock up on a day and put out their best performance. I suppose we'll see tomorrow, but I don't think it'll be a factor."

Saturday will be the second time Sheehan has captained Ireland, while he also led the British and Irish Lions to victory over the Western Force in June.

While leading the side out at Soldier Field will be a significant moment in the 27-year-old's career, Sheehan insists it has been business as usual for him in the build-up.

"Nothing majorly changes for myself or my own prep and I'll go about my business as usual obviously with a bit of a mind on the rest of the lads.

"There's so many leaders in our group and we've got a great leadership group that almost do the work for us and throughout the years we've always sort of just taken our own little bits through the week that we have to lead."

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Both sides on Saturday are able to field former World Rugby players of the year at open-side flanker.

Savea, who won the award in 2023, was only breaking into the international set-up when this pair met at Soldier Field nine years ago but now is arguably the talismanic figure in the New Zealand squad.

A four-time recipient of the All Blacks' player of the year award, the 32-year-old won his 100th cap during this year's Rugby Championship and both his ball-playing ability and work-rate ensure his status among the game's very best players.

Also 32-years-old, Van der Flier was making just his third Ireland appearance in the historic 2016 win.

The Leinster player, who immediately preceded Savea as world player of the year, has featured in 10 straight meetings between the sides with Saturday representing the 11th. Given that the pair also went head-to-head at under-20s level, his rivalry with Savea is now a familiar one.

After the disappointment of missing out on the Test team for the British and Irish Lions, and seeing Leinster's back row bossed by an inspirational Tadhg Beirne against Munster in Croke Park, Ireland will be banking on Van der Flier being at his best back in Chicago.

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While the eye was almost automatically trained upon who would be the occupant of the 10 jersey when Andy Farrell revealed his team on Thursday afternoon, the big surprise was the presence of Stuart McCloskey at inside centre.

The 33-year-old starts for a third time in succession but his selection for Soldier Field on Saturday is certainly a different kettle of fish compared to summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal when a host of regulars were on British and Irish Lions duty.

McCloskey's 22nd cap will be his first run against the All Blacks and, although Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw travelled carrying knocks, Farrell says the Ulster player "thoroughly deserves" his chance.

Something of a form selection, the hard-carrying McCloskey will be expected to provide go-forward ball as one of few Irish players with three starts under his belt already this season.

His opposite number Jordie Barrett is hugely familiar to plenty of Ireland's side after a short stint with Leinster last season.

A versatile player with a complete skillset, Barrett's best position is at inside centre and, at 28-years-old, he is one of the best 12s in the world.

Head coach Scott Robertson described him this week as the sort of player who "coaches before they are coaches" and his contributions figure to be even more valuable on Saturday given how well he knows the opposition.

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The Chicago 'rematch' is set for Saturday with Ireland and New Zealand returning to the scene of their historic 2019 battle at Soldier Field.

Head coaches Andy Farrell and Scott Robertson have named their squads for the match with Jack Crowley given the nod at fly-half for Ireland and Beauden Barrett named in the same position for the All Blacks.

In their last ten meetings, the sides are level with five wins apiece - so who will come out on top this weekend?

We'll have live radio commentary of the match on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 20:00 GMT.

Jim Neilly will be joined by former Ireland forward Chris Henry on commentary.

The build-up will start on the BBC Sport website with text commentary from 18:30 GMT with everything you need to know ahead of the game.

And why don't you get yourself in the mood by listening (or watching on YouTube, external) the latest Ireland Rugby Social podcast as Gavin Andrews takes Conor Murray and Rory Best on a trip down memory lane.

We've also got this great recap of that famous win in 2019 from former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble too.