The Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder finds it hard to imagine the All Blacks anytime soon. Blackadder, an All-Black lock during their glorious period in the second half of the 1990s, played and coached at Crusaders for years before joining Bath this summer.
However, if there's one team out there who could topple them, he fancies Ireland to do so. In well over a century of trying, Ireland have thus failed to beat New Zealand. A constituent part of the country has beaten New Zealand (you may have seen the resulting stage play) but the country as a whole - no luck.
But then we'd never beaten the Springboks on their own patch before 2016. In the dazed aftermath of the cruel 2013 loss, Ronan O'Gara roused the TV audience by assuring us that the next Ireland played New Zealand, "we'd beat them."
Speaking to Omnisport, Blackadder reckons that Ireland are best placed out of anyone to topple New Zealand.
I would say if you just looked at form, you would think not many teams could beat them. But if they think they are unbeatable they will probably get beaten, so it’s probably more of a mind thing than anything else.
But I don’t sense that the All Blacks are a team that would take anything for granted, they’ve got a record and they want to keep on winning...
I think if anyone can challenge them it is more likely to be Ireland. Ireland will come together and they play them in two games, which is very different when you play in a little mini-Test series. The last time they played, Ireland pushed the All Blacks really close and that shows that on any given day there is a chance you can narrow the gap.
If you look at the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks were so far ahead of their rivals. But I still think that coming to the northern hemisphere and playing Ireland in Chicago and Dublin, the All Blacks will certainly have to be on their game.
5th November in Chicago is the date. Just brace yourselves now, here's a few facts which put the scale of Ireland's task into context.
