Dan Sheehan insists Ireland not fixated on All Blacks' Eden Park stranglehold

Dan Sheehan believes a clash against New Zealand is the perfect opportunity for Ireland to finish the season on a high.

Saturday’s game is their final Nations Championship match of the summer, concluding a three-match tour.

Ireland kicked off the campaign with a narrow 33-31 triumph over Australia at the start of July before beating Japan last Saturday, and skipper Sheehan is relishing the chance to make it a hat-trick of wins when they take on the All Blacks.

He told a pre-match press conference: “We’ve had a great few weeks. Obviously performances probably haven’t been where we want them, but it’s a brilliant opportunity now to bring it all together for a big game tomorrow.

“I think everyone has been excited, it’s been in the calendar for a while so it’s a great occasion and great opportunity for us to finish the season off on a high.”

Fixture

Nations Championship

New Zealand

00:10

18 Jul 26

Ireland

All Stats and Data

New Zealand have also won their two Nations Championship fixtures this month, claiming a tight 34-32 win over France followed by victory over Italy.

Saturday’s contest takes place at Eden Park, where the All Blacks are on a 52-Test winning streak having not been beaten at the Auckland venue since 1994.

Despite New Zealand’s formidable record at the ground, Sheehan insists Ireland are concentrating only on themselves.

“It would be a special thing to do, of course, but it’s probably something that we haven’t focused on massively,” the hooker said.

“Obviously it’s a great record but we’re trying to get the best performance out of the group that we’ve seen this year and we think we have it in us.

“The capabilities of the squad, and if we get them out on the day, I think it’ll be a great Test game and hopefully we come out on top.

“It’s not something we’ve mentioned through the week really, but it’ll be a great occasion.”

Sheehan was also full of praise for Sean Jansen following his impressive debut against Japan last week, where the New Zealand-born number eight scored one of Ireland’s five tries in a bonus-point win.

Jansen has been named on the bench for Saturday’s match and Sheehan is hoping to see a similar display.

“It’s my first campaign with Sean and he’s been unbelievable, what a player,” Sheehan said.

“Every time we come up against him at Connacht he’s probably the one person we talk about you need to manage.

“What a ball-carrier in attack, he brings incredible energy. I thought he was unbelievable last week, exactly what you want from a debut is to stand out and do your thing, and he did it in spades.

“It’s brilliant he gets his reward tomorrow and hopefully he has a similar game off the bench.”