Ireland team: Andy Farrell makes wholesale changes for All Blacks showdown as Sam Prendergast returns along with British and Irish Lions
Ireland fly-half Sam Prendergast with an inset of Jamison Gibson-Park.
Andy Farrell has made wholesale changes to his matchday 23 for Ireland’s Nations Championship clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park.
The head coach has made nine changes from the team that defeated Japan last week in Australia, with many of the 2025 British and Irish Lions returning to the starting XV.
Andy Farrell rings the changes
Hugo Keenan takes over at full-back with Jimmy O’Brien shifting to the wing and the fit-again Robert Baloucoune returning to the run-on team on the right wing. Stuart McCloskey is retained at inside centre but is now joined by Garry Ringrose, who takes over in the 13 jersey with Robbie Henshaw dropping out of the team.
Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast are restored in the half-backs with last week’s starters Craig Casey and Ciaran Frawley included on the bench with Bundee Aki being the third backline replacement.
Ireland boss Farrell has named a new loose trio with Tadhg Beirne shifting to the back-row after captaining Ireland against the Brave Blossoms from the second row. He is joined by Josh van der Flier while Jack Conan switches from blindside flanker to the number eight jersey.
James Ryan and Joe McCarthy are the starting locks this week against the All Blacks with Dan Sheehan captaining the team from hooker while Tadhg Furlong and Tom O’Toole are named at tighthead and loosehead prop, respectively.
Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman and Thomas Clarkson provide the front-row cover among the replacements, with Nick Timoney and Sean Jansen completing the forward options – the latter of which in line to earn his second Test cap.
Ireland team v New Zealand at Eden Park
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Tom O’Toole
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki
Date: Saturday, 18 July, 2026
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:10 (local), 08:10 (UK), 09:10 (France), 09:10 (South Africa), 17:10 (AEST), 19:10 (New Zealand), 04:10 (Argentina), 16:10 (JST), 03:10 (EDT)
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referees: Luc Ramos (FFR) and Damon Murphy (RA)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
FPRO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Broadcasters: ITV (United Kingdom), TF1 (France), Virgin Media Television (Republic of Ireland), Sky Italia (Italy), Wowow (Japan), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Nine Network / Stan Sport (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa)
