New Zealand v Ireland: Teams

New Zealand return to Auckland, the scene of their famous World Cup triumph, for the first Test of the series against Ireland on Saturday.

The All Blacks lifted the Webb Ellis trophy at Eden Park last October but now start a new cycle under head coach Steve Hansen, who has stepped up from his role as assistant to previous boss Graham Henry.

There has not been a massive turnover of players, however, as 14 members of the squad on duty in the final against France are involved again this weekend.

Richie McCaw, of course, remains a constant, with the flanker continuing as captain as his team begins the road to their cup defence in 2015.

"From the experiences we have been through last year, you just have to use them to your advantage," he said. "If we're not trying to be better then we may as well do something else and this is the attitude I'm seeing.

"Those guys (who won the World Cup) are loving being back here and want to be better at it, and tomorrow is the best place to start."

New faces

Hansen has selected three new faces in his starting line-up - winger Julian Savea, scrum-half Aaron Smith and lock Brodie Retallick have all been handed their Test debuts.

"We picked them (the new caps) because they have all shown that they have special qualities which they now get the opportunity to show on the international stage," Hansen said.

It will be a milestone match for Dan Carter - he will become New Zealand's most capped fly-half when he makes his 71st appearance in the No.10 shirt.

Ireland, meanwhile, will be looking to finally end their miserable run against the All Blacks, having never registered a win in 24 previous meetings.

Like their opponents, they do have good memories of visiting Eden Park - it was the venue for their famous 15-6 victory over Australia in the pool stages of the 2011 World Cup.

"I certainly have fond memories of nine months ago, so it's nice to be back," said hooker Rory Best, who starts alongside props Declan Fitzpatrick and Cian Healy.

"It was no great surprise to us that we won that game (against the Wallabies). It was thrown around as a massive upset, but we went into that game massively confident.

"But we're obviously well aware it's a different tournament, a long time ago. It has no bearing (on Saturday's game)."

As well as front-rower Fitzpatrick, Ireland coach Declan Kidney has handed a debut to winger Simon Zebo for the first of three matches against the All Blacks, while lock Dan Touhy makes his first start alongside Donnacha Ryan in the second row.

The tourists are also given a major boost by the return of skipper Brian O'Driscoll after the talismanic centre missed the entire RBS Six Nations campaign through injury.

New Zealand: 15-I Dagg; 14-Z Guildford, 13-C Smith, 12-S B Williams, 11-J Savea; 10-D Carter, 9-A Smith; 1-T Woodcock, 2-A Hore, 3-O Franks, 4-B Retallick, 5-S Whitelock, 6-V Vito, 7-R McCaw (capt), 8-K Read.
Replacements: 16-H Elliott, 17-B Franks, 18-A Williams, 19-A Thomson, 20-P Weepu, 21-A Cruden, 22-B Smith.

Ireland: 15-R Kearney, 14-F McFadden, 13-B O'Driscoll (capt), 12-K Earls, 11-S Zebo, 10-J Sexton, 9-C Murray; 8-J Heaslip, 7-S O'Brien, 6-P O'Mahony, 5-D Ryan, 4-D Touhy, 3-D Fitzpatrick, 2-R Best, 1-C Healy
Replacements: 16-S Cronin, 17-R Loughney, 18-D O'Callaghan, 19-K McLaughlin, 20-E Reddan, 21-R O'Gara, 22-D Cave.