There’s nothing like testing yourself against the very best in the world, and that is what Ireland will be doing on the weekend when they open their Autumn Series against New Zealand. This is a massively tough task for the Irish who have yet to win an international against the Kiwis. The head to head between the two nations stands at 27-0 for the All Blacks with the one draw played out between them. The Irish are currently on a 22 match losing streak against the Southern Hemisphere giants.
Ireland v New Zealand Rugby Betting Odds
New Zealand 1/33, Ireland 10/1, Draw 50/1
Ireland struggled for big performances in the 2016 Six Nations, landing just the two wins against Italy and Scotland. So they haven’t been at their strongest for a while and they will come under serious scrutiny by the All Blacks, although there is no pressure on the men in green at all here because they are 10/1 underdogs for the match up. The last time they went up against New Zealand back in November 2013 saw a tight scrap between the two of them, with Ireland edged out in a 22-24 result on home soil.
The weight of the task ahead can be seen in New Zealand’s current form. They are on a record breaking winning streak of 18 Test wins. That’s massive from them and no-one is near to touching them at the moment. Back in the 2016 Rugby Championship they carded 42-8 and 29-9 wins over Australia and beat south Africa 41-13 and 57-15. It’s power personified and they are a machine that is almost making the game predictable and boring, that would be if they weren’t such an awesome sight to see in full motion.
They have quality all over the park from Beauden Barrett at number 10 to the likes of winger Israel Dagg and after cruising to the 2016 Rugby Championship with six wins from six, they went out and beat Australia in the Bledisloe Cup to seal that record breaking win. The All Blacks took a 37-10 win at Eden Park in that end of year test. So can Ireland stop that kind of power? It’s not too likely and there is a handicap at online betting site Betfred of New Zealand -23 for a price of 5/6, that’s how strong the Kiwis are expected to hit the Irish.
So the Kiwis have an unbeaten run of history against the Irish. From those 28 previous meetings, New Zealand have averaged 29 points per game, whereas the Irish have averaged just 11 points in return against the All Blacks. The biggest winning margin that the Kiwis put up was that 60-0 victory back in June 2012. Overall the average is just under 18 points between them when they meet up.
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