Ireland will host World Cup conquerors New Zealand and Joe Schmidt’s Australia during a mouth-watering four-match autumn series against southern hemisphere opposition.
The All Blacks, who beat Andy Farrell’s side 28-24 in the quarter-finals of last year’s global tournament in France, will visit Dublin on Friday, November 8.
Former Ireland boss Schmidt will bring the Wallabies to the Aviva Stadium for the series finale on Saturday, November 30.
In between those stellar fixtures, the reigning Guinness Six Nations champions will take on Argentina, on Friday, November 15, and Fiji, on Saturday, November 23.
With a two-match summer tour against world champions South Africa already scheduled for July, Ireland will end the year having faced each of Test rugby’s other 10 leading nations.
The game against Australia has been arranged as part of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s 150th year celebrations.
Head coach Farrell, who is preparing for Saturday’s Six Nations title decider against Scotland, said: “This November’s line-up is a hugely exciting one for the Irish rugby public and we are looking forward to competing against four hugely talented sides.
“There is an added dimension to this year’s autumn series, with a fourth match against Australia set to mark the IRFU’s 150th celebrations.
“We look forward to testing ourselves against some of the most exciting teams in the world, with whom Ireland has such strong traditions and rivalries. It promises to be a series to remember.”
The matches will be the final fixtures before Farrell takes a break from his role to focus on leading the British and Irish Lions on their 2025 tour of Australia.
Series fixtures
Ireland v New Zealand, Friday, November 8, 8.10pm – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Ireland v Argentina, Friday, November 15, 8.10pm – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Ireland v Fiji, Saturday, November 23, 3.10pm – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Ireland v Australia, Saturday, November 30, 3.10pm – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has been announced by Rugby Australia as the new Wallabies head coach.
Schmidt coached Ireland from 2013-2019 where he won the Six Nations and was recognised as the World Rugby coach of the year in 2018. Prior to that he was a multiple trophy winner with Leinster.
More recently he was an assistant coach for the All Blacks from 2022 and during their runners-up finish in the World Cup last year.
Schmidt signed a two-year deal with Australia and takes over from former England coach Eddie Jones who left the role after the World Cup.
Rugby Australia (RA) chief Phil Waugh said Schmidt’s coaching background and experience was a significant reason for his appointment.
He said: “Given our stated plan to build a unified Australian Rugby system, Joe’s experience with Ireland and New Zealand – two of the most aligned Rugby nations in the world – will no doubt prove valuable as we move forward.
“He has a global view of the game from his experience in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and his appointment puts us in a strong position as we build towards the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour.”
Schmidt said he is looking forward to starting in the role after a slump in Australian rugby in recent years.
He said: “I am conscious that the Wallabies have weathered a difficult period, and I am keen to help them build a way forward, with greater alignment and clear direction from RA.
“The upcoming Test matches against Wales will arrive quickly, post-Super Rugby, and the program through to the British and Irish Lions Tour next year presents plenty of opportunities and challenges – which I am sure will invigorate players and staff.”
The Wallabies failed to progress through the group stage in the World Cup, losing to Wales and Fiji, and have won just three of their last 10 matches.
Ireland face New Zealand in Paris seeking to reach a maiden semi-final at the Rugby World Cup.
Andy Farrell’s men go into Saturday’s last-eight clash on a remarkable 17-match winning run but face a formidable challenge in the form of the three-time world champions.
Here, the PA news agency highlights some of the major talking points.
Banishing the quarter-final curse
Ireland have topped the world rankings for 15 months and are favourites for the mouth-watering Stade de France showdown. Yet the Irish have never won a World Cup knockout match. Seven times previously they have reached the last eight of the tournament and seven times they have been sent home. The last of those early exits came at the hands of the All Blacks four years ago. Ireland have improved markedly since then and have far greater mental resolve. Farrell’s in-form side will equal the record for consecutive Test wins by a tier one nation (18) by banishing the quarter-final curse. However, standing in their way is one of the toughest challenges in world rugby.
All Blacks out for revenge
Ireland had to wait 111 years for a first Test win over New Zealand. But, having done so in memorable fashion in Chicago seven years ago, the Irish now hold the upper hand in terms of recent meetings. Farrell masterminded a stunning 2-1 tour success over the All Blacks last summer and the stage is set for another unforgettable encounter. New Zealand are not used to losing on home soil and will be out for revenge. Kiwi full-back Beauden Barrett said: “There are a lot of us who are pretty keen to get one up on them and still we’re hurting from what happened last year.” Ireland’s quest will be aided by the backing of tens of thousands of travelling fans.
About Schmidt
An intriguing sub-plot is the presence of former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt in the Kiwi camp. The 58-year-old led Ireland into the last two World Cups before joining his native country’s coaching team last summer after his six-year tenure was emphatically ended by the All Blacks in Tokyo in 2019. New Zealand coach Ian Foster outlined plans to tap into Schmidt’s extensive knowledge of the Irish. Yet veteran Ireland wing Keith Earls played down the merits of doing so, saying: “We genuinely don’t use any of the habits that Joe taught us.”
Return of the Mack
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Ireland were nursing a few concerning injury issues following a bruising Pool B finale against Scotland. Yet head coach Farrell has been able to name an unchanged starting XV. Mack Hansen looked to be a major doubt after sitting out training early in the week but took part in Friday’s captain’s run with a heavily-strapped right calf. Fellow wing James Lowe (eye) has also been passed fit. Only lock James Ryan, who sustained a wrist issue against the Scots, is missing from arguably Ireland’s strongest line-up. Lowe, meanwhile, is one of three New Zealand-born players in Ireland’s team, in addition to centre Bundee Aki and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.
Disciplinary disruption
New Zealand’s preparations have been disrupted by a disciplinary storm in the build-up to the clash. Star wing Mark Telea misses out after being dropped due to a breach of team protocol. Foster insisted the issue was “nothing major” but still felt compelled to punish a player whose emergence on the international scene has been central to the All Blacks’ improvement since their series defeat to Ireland last July. Telea, who is believed to have broken a curfew, has three tries in the tournament, including a double in the opening-night defeat to hosts France. Leicester Fainga’anuku is the man to benefit after claiming a hat-trick in the Pool A thrashing of Uruguay.
Andy Farrell believes in-form World Cup hopefuls Ireland were previously plagued by an “inferiority complex”.
Test rugby’s top-ranked nation will bid to make history against New Zealand in Paris on Saturday evening by becoming the first Irish team to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.
Head coach Farrell was assistant to Joe Schmidt when Ireland went into the 2019 tournament as the sport’s number one country only to suffer a humiliating last-eight stuffing at the hands of the formidable All Blacks.
The Englishman, who has masterminded 17 successive wins, feels Ireland are becoming better at handling the pressure of having a target on their back and must continue to do so in order to emulate the sustained success of the Kiwis.
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“I suppose an inferiority complex is what’s happened in the past as far as getting to world number one and thinking that we’re going to fall off a cliff because this shouldn’t be happening to Ireland,” said Farrell.
“But what we’ve learnt to do is throw ourselves into big challenges and try to meet them head on and embrace that.
“We don’t want to be second best, we want to be first best. But we also realise what comes with that, that people are always chasing you hard down.
“You’ve seen with the All Blacks over the last 20 years – that’s why they’re so respected because it’s very hard to stay at the top.
“The guys that are the favourites are the ones I’ve always looked at throughout my career and envied really because of how hard it is to do that.
“That’s the place we want to be because if you’re serious about getting better and being the team that you want to be, that’s the world that you’ve got to live in.”
While New Zealand are three-time world champions, Ireland have repeatedly fallen at the quarter-final hurdle.
The Six Nations champions were full of optimism going into the same stage four years ago before crashing out 46-14 to the All Blacks in Tokyo.
Farrell has committed time and effort to improving the mental resilience of his players and says they must remember Ireland are a “bloody good team” if they suffer performance anxiety this weekend at Stade de France.
“It’s another big game in front of us,” said the 48-year-old, who led his side to a historic tour success in New Zealand last summer.
“At this stage, it’s all about preparation and recovery and making sure there’s an ownership of the plan that you’re going to try and apply on the opposition at the weekend.
“We immerse ourselves with that and that’s the only way it should be. Of course things start to creep in, but we’ve tools and experience to combat all that.
“The main part is to remember that we’re a bloody good team that play together and, when we do that, you’re not on your own, so you can get away from those type of thoughts.”
Keith Earls insists in-form Ireland have eradicated habits instilled by Joe Schmidt ahead of a reunion with their former head coach in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand.
Schmidt led the Irish into the previous two World Cups, both of which ended with disappointing last-eight exits, before joining the All Blacks’ coaching team last summer.
The 58-year-old’s largely positive six-year tenure culminated in a 46-14 hammering at the hands of the Kiwis at the 2019 tournament in Japan before he was succeeded by his assistant Andy Farrell.
Schmidt is now plotting the downfall of his former employers after switching sides, with Ireland seeking to make history in Paris by stretching their winning run to 18 matches to reach a maiden semi-final.
New Zealand boss Ian Foster publicly outlined plans to tap into Schmidt’s extensive knowledge of the opposition, but Munster wing Earls dismissed the merits of doing so.
“I don’t think Joe would know anything about this squad,” said the 36-year-old. “We’re a completely different squad.
“He probably knows things about individuals but, again, we’ve all changed our habits under this coaching staff and we genuinely don’t use any of the habits that Joe taught us.
“Look, he might have a thing on a couple of individuals, but we’re certainly not the same team that played under Joe.”
Schmidt was due to join the set-up of his native New Zealand following last summer’s three-match home series against Ireland, but he was rushed in early after Covid-19 sidelined Foster and some of his staff.
The All Blacks won the first Test but lost the next two as Ireland launched their current winning streak with a historic tour triumph.
Veteran Earls believes that landmark achievement gave Ireland greater belief, which was enhanced further by this year’s Six Nations Grand Slam success.
Yet he concedes they would be foolish to underestimate the three-time world champions, who have scored 240 points and 36 tries across thrashings of Namibia, Italy and Uruguay following an opening-night defeat to hosts France.
“This tournament is a different animal,” said Earls.
“I know we have beaten New Zealand a few times in the last few years, but they have obviously taught us one or two lessons in between that and beaten us by more than one score.
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“We’re under no illusion as to what is coming at the weekend.
“People speak about New Zealand the last year or two that they’ve dipped in performances, but what we’ve seen in this World Cup, they’re starting to come back with a roar.
“After the French game it’s obviously ignited some spark in them. They’re starting to hit their stride again.
“We’re certainly not undermining New Zealand, you would be very silly to do that.
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“I have no doubt they will be highly emotional and looking for revenge and bring everything they have.”
Earls hopes to be available to add to his 101 caps after sitting out last weekend’s victory over Scotland due to a hamstring niggle.
He also missed Ireland’s landmark first win over the All Blacks in 2016 in Chicago through suspension, a result, masterminded by Schmidt, which he credits for helping to improve Ireland’s self-image.
“As Irish people, we can lack a lot of confidence and be a small bit too humble at times,” he said.
“We’ve done an awful lot of work on ourselves to believe that we can play a certain brand of rugby that can make us compete with anyone in the world.”
Mark Robinson accepts New Zealand Rugby made mistakes with the way they handled uncertainty over All Blacks head coach Ian Foster's future.
The NZ Rugby board on Wednesday gave Foster their "full support" to stay on until the Rugby World Cup in France next year and appointed Joe Schmidt as his assistant.
That announcement came just a few days after NZ Rugby chief executive Robinson stated that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief following a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa on Saturday.
The win over the world champions at Ellis Park came after the All Blacks had suffered five defeats in six Tests and sunk to a new low of fifth in the world rankings.
Robinson had only guaranteed that Foster would remain head coach for the tour of South Africa and he admits NZ Rugby did not handle the situation as well as they could have done.
"We acknowledge we haven't got everything right, we're not hiding from that," he said during a press conference in Auckland.
"Aspects of the sequencing in how we interacted with media and the public is something we could have done differently."
Robinson added that "clearly some aspects of the interface between the media and the public wasn’t as good as it could be."
He also conceded: "There's a few things we've done in recent times that could have been done better."
Robinson felt NZ Rugby had a difficult balancing act.
He said: "People want to hear what's going on, they want engagement and access and openness. When you attempt to achieve that, but you're not in a position to really say a lot, then the flip side is you are criticised for doing that. We are always learning.’"
When asked if stating that NZ Rugby would "take stock" following the win in Johannesburg last weekend added "fuel to the fire", Robison replied: "Hindsight's wonderful, isn't it?
"We were attempting to respond to a general demand to be want to be more open and want to be more transparent and give as much as we can possibly can at a time when people are curious, and we don't always make the right decisions.
"It's difficult, isn't it, if you don't say things and think of the best interests of the team and wait till they're out of the country, you're criticised for going missing in action.
"But if you turn up and do have something to say when you're not in strong position to say a lot of things, you get criticised for having to be in a position where you're not saying anything."
Ian Foster is staying on as New Zealand head coach and Joe Schmidt has been appointed as his assistant.
Foster had been under huge pressure following a dismal run of five defeats in six Tests, before the All Blacks lifted the gloom with a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson had only guaranteed Foster would remain in the role for the two Tests against the Springboks.
Robinson stated after the victory over the world champions in Johannesburg that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief, with Foster saying he expected to retain his job.
NZ Rugby on Wednesday confirmed that the 57-year-old will be in charge through to the Rugby World Cup in France next year, with Schmidt taking on a full-time role supporting him.
Stewart Mitchell, the NZR chair, said during a press conference in Auckland: "[The board] have unanimously agreed they have absolute confidence that Ian and this coaching group are the right people to lead the All Blacks through until the World Cup.
"This has been privately and publicly validated by our players and various conversations with our high-performance team."
Former Ireland head coach Schmidt had already been working in the All Blacks' set-up and Foster welcomed his appointment.
"Joe Schmidt has been on my radar, probably for a couple of years," said Foster.
"We flagged at the start of this year that his role was to join us after the Irish series as an independent selector to replace Grant Fox and in addition he was going to do some opposition analysis work and work alongside myself in the strategy area.
"We started that after the Irish series [which Ireland won 2-1] and delighted with how that's going. I have a great relationship with Joe."
Holders New Zealand are back in Rugby Championship action against Argentina at Orangetheory Stadium a week on Saturday.
Joe Schmidt will help New Zealand prepare for the first Test against Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday after head coach Ian Foster and two of his assistants tested positive for COVID-19.
Foster and assistant coach John Plumtree tested positive for coronavirus at the weekend and Scott McLeod is the latest coach to contract the virus.
Former Ireland head coach Schmidt will work with the New Zealand squad this week in the absence of that trio.
Centres David Havili and Jack Goodhue have also tested positive for COVID-19, so Braydon Ennor has been called up to join the squad in Auckland.
Foster said: "Joe will come in for Tuesday and Thursday's training this week, and we're really grateful to have his help.
"We've planned for this kind of disruption and we've got back-up plans and people on standby. Joe was one of those people we could call on."
Foster added: "I've got every confidence in our coaching group, and in our senior leaders who are all stepping up in what’s a massive test for us.
"Everyone has had to deal with these kinds of disruptions over the past couple of years. This is a real opportunity for the coaching group and team to pull together."
Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has agreed to replace Grant Fox as an independent New Zealand selector.
Fox will step down from the role after the Steinlager Series next year, having been a selector for a decade.
Schmidt will take up his position with the All Blacks and assist in selecting the squad for the Rugby Championship after finishing his part-time duties working with the Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific competition.
New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said Schmidt is a shrewd appointment.
Foster said: "Joe will bring a wealth of New Zealand and international experience into the role, so we are delighted to have him join us.
"He will work closely with me and ‘Plums’ [ fellow selector John Plumtree] on selections but his insights will be valuable in other areas as well, so we look forward to having him join us."
The experienced Schmidt said: "It's humbling to be involved and I'm looking forward to learning more about the players and the All Blacks environment and helping out as best I can."
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