KEY POINTS:
Ireland have never beaten the All Blacks - the closest being a draw in the 1970s.
But they have been close a few times recently and must fancy their chances on Sunday. Certainly Graham Henry thinks so and has reverted to the best available.
The selection of Neemia Tialata at tighthead prop is interesting. He looked sound when coming on against Scotland and certainly has the physical attributes to do the business. He plays both tight and loosehead - the latter seems to be a better place for him.
Henry, Steve Hansen and scrum coach Mike Cron will be a bit disappointed with how the scrum has been going lately. In Hong Kong against the supposed Aussie easy beats it was pretty even with Al Baxter, Stephen Moore and Benn Robinson dominating a few scrums.
Scotland looked to have the edge for most of the game last week so there is reason to look for improvement this week.
Ireland have an average front row. John Hayes must be fantastic around the field and a great team man off the field because he is not great at scrum time.
The All Blacks will again target him and look to reassert their dominance in recent years over all comers.
Across the Irish Sea I will be interested to see how Australia goes against England at scrum time.
The English press are talking it up as only they can. I suspect Australia are becoming better than many think with Moore standing out and if they can break even at the set piece they may have enough elsewhere to smash the England party.
I like the look of the Irish pack, front row aside. Paul O'Connell and Donncha O'Callaghan are very good second rowers and the All Blacks will need to help Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino to get parity at lineout time.
The new halfback Tomas O'Leary has experience at the highest level of Gaelic football and is big and physical. Ronan O'Gara isn't the bravest on defence but can kick tactically better than anyone in the game. If he gets a platform, the likes of Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Mils Muliaina will be collecting a variety of tricky kicks.
Brian O'Driscoll is well overdue a great game against the All Blacks.
The other centre Luke Fitzgerald looks good.
He 's a great attacker and very safe in defence.
The Ireland back three have the experience if not the flair of some in the reserves. Speaking of which, the Ireland bench looks better in experience and impact compared to the All Blacks.
Ireland won by 50 points last week against Canada so there will be a challenge for new coach Declan Kidney to get the feet back on the ground.
Playing the All Blacks usually has a focusing effect on most teams but you never know what the Irish are thinking.
Doug Howlett, who now plays for Munster, has a good knowledge of Irish footy without being patronising and believes they have a good chance if mentally focused. The crowd will be worth a few points, but the Irish will need more than emotion to get over this All Black team.
The selected group have played regularly together this year and found that rare ability to cope under extreme pressure and come from behind in tight matches.
In Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams, Brad Thorn, Rodney So'oialo, Daniel Carter, Conrad Smith and Muliaina they have great experience and talent in key areas.
Jimmy Cowan is playing consistently well but I wonder how close Piri Weepu came to selection for he too has developed a calmness under pressure and could be a real asset if introduced when things are tight.
It is rare for Carter to be playing against another rated by some as better than him.
Nowadays he has many distractions off the field but it's on the field where his real reputation has been earned. Look out for a big match from the shy kid from Canterbury.
Nonu has done nothing wrong but he has not stood out as he can do at lower levels of the game. Maybe the selectors will soon look at a Smith/ Richard Kahui centre combination so Nonu will need to find something special against O'Driscoll and co.
So, there are plenty of great match ups and a real test match in store.
In recent time the All Blacks have won tests without dominating territory and relying on great defence and converting the slightest opportunity into points.
They will need more consistent ball and field position to roll over this Irish team.
The referee is Mark Lawrence from South Africa. I suspect the All Blacks will welcome a familiar southern hemisphere ear.
It's sad that modern rugby is so complicated with rule variations and that there is so much pressure and emphasis on the referees.
