In Rome, the debut of new Italy coach Kieran Crowley, a former All Black, was a thumping by 47 points.
This Saturday the party is at a sold-out Lansdowne Road and New Zealand has turned up finding Ireland in high spirits.
What was expected to be a web-clearing runout against Japan last weekend turned into a wholesale clearing out of Japan to the tune of 60-5. Notwithstanding Japan's unforeseen apparent stage fright, Ireland's developing game plan to box-kick less and play more heads-up rugby suddenly blossomed into nine tries of highlight-reel quality.
The Irish switched the point of attack well, created lots of options, and ran good lines. Japan was overwhelmed.
"We'd love to do it all the time. We just got presented with the pictures and we read them quite well," Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton said.
He and his team expect a vastly different, fuzzier picture on Saturday.
A team that can go through you and around you, was one complimentary description of New Zealand by Ireland coach Andy Farrell.
Farrell assisted Joe Schmidt when Ireland beat the All Blacks in 2016 and 2018, and when they were hammered in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarterfinals in their last meeting. In a first match against New Zealand as the boss, Farrell is seeing an improved, aggressive defense from the visitors and a strong rolling maul.
"You can't lose any moment whatsoever. If you lose any moment against the Kiwis, you get burnt," he said.
With only the Japan game as a warm up, and given an A-grade performance, Farrell picked the same side except for giving one of his Lions, lock Iain Henderson, the start ahead of Tadhg Beirne. Beirne, he said, will get to "finish the game really well for us."
New Zealand chose the side which destroyed Wales two weeks ago with a start for Sevu Reece on the left wing.
The All Blacks have been lauded on tour for their record-setting attack, but their defense has been just as good, conceding only three tries in three games, and only one in the first half.
It will be tested by three New Zealanders in green jerseys — backs Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and James Lowe — all of whom scored tries against Japan.
Lowe is one of a number of Ireland players yet to play the All Blacks, many of whom he fought beside in Super Rugby and a couple he went to school with in Nelson.
"Mate," Lowe said, "I can't wait."
-AP
Teams
All Blacks:
1. Joe Moody, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Nepo Laulala, 4. Brodie Retallick, 5. Samuel Whitelock (c) 6. Ethan Blackadder, 7. Dalton Papalii, 8. Ardie Savea, 9. TJ Perenara, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Sevu Reece, 12. Anton Lienert-Brown, 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Will Jordan, 15. Jordie Barrett.
Reserves: 16. Dane Coles, 17. Karl Tu'inukuafe, 18. Tyrel Lomax, 19. Tupou Vaa'i, 20. Akira Ioane, 21. Finlay Christie, 22. Richie Mo'unga, 23. David Havili.
Ireland
1. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Iain Henderson, 5. James Ryan, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan, 9. Jamison Gibson Park, 10. Johnny Sexton, 11. James Lowe, 12.Bundee Aki, 13. Garry Ringrose, 14. Andrew Conway, 15. Hugo Keenan.
Reserves:
16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Tadhg Beirne, 20. Peter O'Mahony, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. Keith Earls.
Odds
All Blacks: $1.26
Ireland: $3.60
Points start: -9.5 All Blacks
Weather
Cloudy through the afternoon with patchy rain and drizzle. Highest temperatures of 12 or 13 degrees, with light northwesterly breezes.
How to catch the action
The Herald will provide live updates. You can catch live commentary of the match on Newstalk ZB, Gold AM and iHeartRadio.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 1, with coverage beginning at 4am. If you want to watch the match online, you can stream the game live via Sky Sport Now.
