STATS & FACTS: Ireland vs. New Zealand

STATS & FACTS: Ireland vs. New Zealand

27 Stats and Facts ahead of the highly anticipated clash between Ireland and New Zealand at Aviva Stadium Dublin.

1. Ireland have just one win from their previous 30 games against New Zealand (D1, L28).

2. That victory came in their second-to-last fixture against the All Blacks, when they trounced them 40-29 in Chicago.


3. New Zealand are undefeated in their last 15 visits to the Aviva Stadium to face Ireland, restricting them to single figures on 10 occasions in that time.

4. Ireland have won 16 of their last 17 games, including their last four on the bounce.


5. Only three times in that period have they conceded more than 20 points in a single game.

6. Ireland have won their last 10 games on the bounce at the Aviva Stadium, their longest ever winning streak at home.

7. Ireland's last defeat at Aviva Stadium came against New Zealand in November 2016.

8. New Zealand have won their last five games on the bounce overall and have also won their last eight games in a row when playing away from home.

9. The All Blacks have not lost in Europe since a 38-21 defeat to England in December 2012.

10. New Zealand are just 26 points shy of having scored 500 points in 2018, making it the third consecutive year in which they’ve scored as many after having scored fewer than 500 points in each of the eight years prior.

11. New Zealand beat 46 defenders in their 16-15 win over England last weekend, the most by any Tier 1 nation since France beat 55 defenders against Italy in March 2017.

12. The All Blacks also average 30 defenders beaten in 2018, the most of any Tier 1 nation.

13. Ireland haven’t made more than eight offloads in a single game since February, whereas New Zealand have made 10+ offloads in five of their last nine games.

14. Ireland’s Johnny Sexton (383) is just 14 points shy of eclipsing Ronan O’Gara (396) as the most prolific point scorer at the Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road in Test history.

15. Beauden Barrett has scored 106 Test points in 2018, the most of any player and one of just two (Handre Pollard, 100) to have scored a century this year.

16. CJ Stander (157) and Bundee Aki (123) have made more carries than any other Tier 1 players in Test rugby.

 
 
 
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17. New Zealand’s Rieko Ioane (41) and Ben Smith (38) have beaten the most defenders this year.

18. Beauden Barrett (8) and Aaron Smith (7) have assisted more tries than any other Tier 1 players in Test rugby in 2018.

19. Conor Murray – who has been ruled out through injury – has assisted the third most (6, level with Greig Laidlaw)

20. Murray has also scored the most tries of any European player against the All Blacks (4).

21. Englishman Wayne Barnes will referee the clash between the two sides.

22. All Black halfback Aaron Smith will play his 82nd Test match and overtake Justin Marshall as the most capped All Blacks halfback in history



 23. Johnny Sexton has scored more points against the All Blacks than any other Irish player with 49 points. Ronan O’Gara is second on the list with 38 points scored against the All Blacks. 

24. Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock will set a new record for an All Blacks starting lock combination, starting in their 50th Test together.

25. The previous locking record of 49 Tests was held by Robin Brooke and Ian Jones who dominated the All Blacks second row throughout the 1990s.

26. Eleven members of Ireland's squad featured in the historic 40-29 win over New Zealand in Chicago in November 2016

27. All Blacks Captain Kieran Read celebrated 100 Test wins last weekend - he's the fourth player in history to record 100 Test match wins, behind Richie McCaw (131), Keven Mealamu (114) and Tony Woodcock (102).

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