Andy Farrell: Ireland can cause ‘chaos’ in the decisive Test against New Zealand

Dylan Coetzee

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is looking for his side to put “doubt” in the All Blacks’ minds by causing “chaos” in the series decider in Wellington.

Farrell’s men levelled the series last weekend with their first ever win in New Zealand and take all the momentum going into the decisive Test of what has been an epic series.

Finding another gear

The 47-year-old says his squad understands the magnitude of Saturday’s clash and hopes Ireland finds an extra gear at Sky Stadium.

“Everyone realises the size of the task in hand but there’s a lot of excitement in being able to deal with that,” Farrell said.

“The best part of where we’re at is we know we can do better. Albeit we had a decent result in the last Test, hopefully our best is saved till last.

“We’ll see whether there is that much improvement needed because we’re in control as well as them.

“They’ve got a plan but it’s up to us to make sure we bring a bit of chaos to that plan. We’ve got to make sure that we put a bit of doubt in the All Blacks‘ minds as the game goes.”

Farrell admits his side is where they want to be but expects the All Blacks to bounce back in the last Test as the hosts look to snatch the series from the Irish.

“It really doesn’t get any better for us, we’ve talked about playing against the All Blacks when their backs are against the wall or they’ve come off a loss and we know what the history says about all that,” Farrell said.

“But that’s exactly where we want to be. We know they will be hurting, we know that they bounce back unbelievably strong. We’ve played them enough times now to realise what’s coming.

“But to have them in the last game before we break now for another season when we expect them to be fired up, really wanting to prove a point to us and to themselves, it couldn’t be any better for us.

“To be able to deal with those type of situations is exactly where we want to be.”

Pushing to the limit

Inevitably in a three-match series, the teams begin to understand each other’s game more, and Farrell is hoping to push the All Blacks to the limit.

“I think they’re starting to understand our game a little bit more,” said Farrell.

“The All Blacks over the years have been the world’s best at being calm under pressure and just staying on point and not letting things get to them too much.

“But it’s our job to make sure that we push them to the limits of that.”

READ MORE: Ireland: Bundee Aki the only change for crunch match against the All Blacks

 

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New Zealand v Ireland preview

Planet Rugby previews the series deciding third Test between the All Blacks and Ireland in Wellington.