Just five All Blacks could make Ireland team - Mehrtens

Just five of the current All Blacks side could break into the current Ireland team, according to former New Zealand stand-off Andrew Mehrtens.

Mehrtens and former All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis were tasked with putting together a combined 15 made up of players of both sides on RugbyPass TV Live, and it truly illustrates how the tables have turned in recent years.

There’s no room for Sam Whitelock or Brodie Retallick, nor is there space for the likes of Richie Mo’unga or Beauden Barrett.

Big Jim Show LIVE – NZ v Italy

Tune in live at 19:25 BST and again just 10 minutes after the final whistle to catch Big Jim and special guests dissecting the thrilling clash between New Zealand and Italy in two captivating live shows.

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Big Jim Show LIVE – NZ v Italy

Tune in live at 19:25 BST and again just 10 minutes after the final whistle to catch Big Jim and special guests dissecting the thrilling clash between New Zealand and Italy in two captivating live shows.

Watch Here

According to the former halfbacks only Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, Aaron Smith, Rieko Ioane and Will Jordan could crack the team, with Ireland taking the other ten spots.

The All Blacks could potentially face Ireland in the quarter-final, depending on the result of Ireland’s game with Scotland next weekend, which will put Pool B – aka The Pool of Death – to bed.

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For now, All Blacks’ thoughts will not be on Ireland, but rather on putting in another statement win against Pool A minnows Uruguay, after they drubbed Italy 96-17 in Lyon.

“Really satisfied, really good performance,” said head coach Ian Foster. “It felt a little bit strange having the gap after the Namibia game. We did a lot of hard work and this was the game we prepared well for. World Cups are full of games where there’s a bit of an edge to them and we certainly had an edge to that performance.

“It was a performance we wanted this week. People create a lot of panic about your chances and all that sort of stuff, particularly after we lost the first one (against France).

“The critical game for us in this pool was always going to be Italy. There was enough evidence to show that if we didn’t perform well and they played as well as they have been performing this year, it was going to be a heck of a tough game. We were good enough to take that away from them.

“We have to do the same next week as the same applies. Do the maths and next week’s also equally important. We put ourselves in control of our own destiny and that’s where we want to be and put some pressure on some other teams who have still got some tough games coming up. Look at Ireland. If Scotland win two games then Ireland can miss out. It’s a tough World Cup.”