Ireland v All Blacks: Teams

Declan Kidney insists Ireland have it in their power to kick-start their World Cup preparations against New Zealand on Saturday.

At Aviva Stadium, Saturday November 20, kick-off 5.30pm

Declan Kidney insists Ireland have it in their power to kick-start their World Cup preparations against New Zealand on Saturday. Ireland have found themselves coming in for increasing criticism, having underperformed in recent Tests. Not even a 20-10 victory over Samoa last time out could lift the gloom - and things will not get any easier for the Irish when the All Blacks, the world's No.1 team, arrive at Lansdowne Road. However, Kidney is confident his side has the talent to challenge New Zealand - a side Ireland have failed to beat in 23 previous attempts - after analysing their own performances. "We know better than anyone else that our displays have been below what we're capable of in the last two matches," Kidney said. "We must be firing on all cylinders against New Zealand, who are at the top of their game at the moment. "But we also know that a lot of things have gone wrong in the last two matches that are within our control that we've been working to fix." Kidney has made 10 changes of personnel from the side that stuttered past Samoa - with only Luke Fitzgerald, Tom Court, Tommy Bowe, Donncha O'Callaghan and skipper Brian O'Driscoll retained. Fitzgerald, though, moves from full-back to the wing, while Court moves from loosehead to tighthead.

Attitude

New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw is refusing to take anything for granted despite Ireland's poor form. The All Blacks, chasing a Grand Slam-winning tour, saw off Ireland 66-28 in New Plymouth in June. However Ireland's challenge was hampered by the sending off of Jamie Heaslip after the kneed McCaw in the back. And McCaw saw enough in that performance to know Ireland will offer plenty of problems in Dublin. McCaw said: "The last time we played in June we only had the better of things in the first half (after Heaslip was sent-off). "We know that if we don't turn up with the right attitude, we will have a tough day. I've never had an easy win in Dublin." New Zealand coach Graham Henry has made six changes following the 49-3 thrashing of Scotland last time out. Ma'a Nonu, Cory Jane, Andy Ellis, Anthony Boric, Jerome Kaino and Tom Donnelly are all named in the line-up. Ireland: 15 R Kearney, 14 T Bowe, 13 B O'Driscoll (capt), 12 G D'Arcy, 11 L Fitzgerald, 10 J Sexton, 9 E Reddan, 1 C Healy, 2 R Best, 3 T Court, 4 D O'Callaghan, 5 M O'Driscoll, 6 S Ferris, 7 D Wallace, 8 J Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 S Cronin, 17 J Hayes, 18 D Toner, 19 D Leamy, 20 P Stringer, 21 R O'Gara, 22 K Earls. New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 John Afoa, 18 Sam Whitelock , 19 Liam Messam, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.