In July 2022,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

played a three-Test series against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

as part of the 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals. Ireland also played two matches against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

. This was Ireland's first tour since their tour to Australia in 2018, their first tour to New Zealand since

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, and their first encounter against New Zealand since

November 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. In the first Test, at Auckland’s Eden Park, New Zealand comfortably beat the visitors 42-19. In the second Test, in Dunedin, Ireland prevailed by 23-12 scoring their first victory against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, their fourth win over New Zealand. The following week Ireland became just the fifth touring side to achieve a series win in New Zealand, beating the All Blacks 32-22 in Wellington for a 2–1 series victory. The feat had only been previously accomplished by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

), the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

(

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

), and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Fixtures

Squads

Note: Ages, caps and clubs are as per 17 July 2022, the day after the end of the tour.

Ireland

On 14 June, Ireland named a 40-man squad for their 3-test series for the New Zealand tour. Coaching team: * Head coach: Andy Farrell * Assistant and attack coach:

Mike Catt Michael John Catt OBE (born 17 September 1971) is a South African-born former rugby union player who played for the England national rugby union team. He played professionally for the clubs London Irish and Bath. He earned 75 international cap ...

* Defence coach:

Simon Easterby Simon Easterby (born 21 July 1975 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire) is an Irish former rugby union player. He is currently the defence coach for the Irish national team. Early life Easterby's father is English and his mother Irish. He is the you ...

* Forwards coach:

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

* Scrum coach: John Fogarty

New Zealand

On 13 June the All Blacks' squad was announced, including six potential debutants. On 17 June

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

(NZR) announced lock Josh Lord had been ruled out of the tour with a ruptured ACL. On 27 June it was announced head coach Ian Foster, assistant coaches

John Plumtree John Plumtree is a professional rugby union coach and former first class provincial rugby player. He was previously the head coach for the Hurricanes and the , which competes in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions. As a player Plumtree ...

and Scott McLeod, and centres

David Havili David Kaetau Havili (born 23 December 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a fullback, centre or first five-eighth for in the Bunnings NPC and the in the Super Rugby competition. Early career Havili is of Pāk ...

and

Jack Goodhue Elias Jack Goodhue (born 13 June 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a Centre for in the Bunnings NPC and the in the Super Rugby competition. Early career Originating from the Northland Region of New Zealand, Goo ...

had been ruled out of the first test after testing positive for

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Braydon Ennor Braydon Maurice Ennor (born 16 July 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a wing and centre for in the Mitre 10 Cup and Crusaders in super rugby. Youth and school Ennor was born in Auckland, New Zealand to Zimbabwean ...

was called into the squad as a midfield cover. Coaching team: * Head coach: Ian Foster * Attack coach:

Brad Mooar Brad Mooar (born 28-Aug-1974) is a New Zealand professional rugby union coach. He was previously assistant coach at Southern Kings and Crusaders (rugby union), Crusaders and was head coach at the Scarlets in Wales. References

Living pe ...

* Forwards coach:

* Scrum coach: Greg Feek

Matches

First match vs Māori All Blacks

First test

Notes: *

Leicester Fainga'anuku Leicester Ofa Ki Wales Twickenham Fainga'anuku (born 11 October 1999) is a Tongan born New Zealanders, New Zealand rugby union player. His position of choice is Winger (rugby union), wing. Early career Fainga'anuku was educated at Nelson Coll ...

and Pita Gus Sowakula (New Zealand) made their international debuts. *

Finlay Bealham Finlay Bealham (born 9 October 1991) is an Australian-born Irish rugby union player. He primarily plays as a prop, and can play at both tighthead and loosehead. Bealham represents at international level, qualifying to play for them through h ...

was originally named on the Ireland bench, but was replaced on match day by Tom O'Toole.

Second test

Notes: * This was Ireland's first ever victory over New Zealand on New Zealand soil. * Scott Barrett (New Zealand) earned his 50th test cap. * Folau Fakatava and

Aidan Ross Aidan Ross (born 25 October 1995) is an Australia-born New Zealand rugby union player who plays Prop for the in the Super Rugby competition and for the All Blacks internationally. Biography Ross debuted for the Bay of Plenty in 2015 and ...

(New Zealand) made their international debuts.

Second match vs Māori All Blacks

Notes: * This was Ireland's first ever victory over the Māori All Blacks. *

was originally named on the Ireland bench, but was replaced on match day by

Michael Bent Michael Bent (born 25 April 1986 in Hāwera, New Zealand) is a New Zealand born rugby union player who can play as a tight or loosehead prop. He played for Leinster in the Pro14 and represented Ireland at international level. He has also repr ...

Third test

Notes: * New Zealand's Scott Barrett (starting XV) and

had both been named in the team, but withdrew from the team ahead of kickoff.

Akira Ioane Akira Ioane (born 16 June 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player. Ioane plays blindside flanker and number 8 for the Auckland rugby union team in the Mitre 10 Cup, for the Blues in the Super Rugby competition and was selected for the All Blac ...

replaced Barrett in the starting XV with

Tupou Vaa'i Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i (born 27 January 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a lock for the Taranaki Bulls in the Mitre 10 Cup and for the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Career Early career Vaa'i was born in Ne ...

joining the bench, whilst

Karl Tu'inukuafe George Zvi Karl Tu'inukuafe (born 21 February 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for the in Super Rugby, and for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup. His position of choice is loosehead prop. He has previously repres ...

replaced Ross. *

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (born 5 June 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player, and former rugby league footballer. He plays for the Auckland Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific, and for the New Zealand national team. He made his debut against Irel ...

(New Zealand) made his international debut. * Ireland won a first test series in New Zealand for the first time in history. * This was the first time since 1994, and just the fifth in history, that New Zealand lost a home test series. * This was the first time since 1998 that New Zealand lost back-to-back home test matches. * This was the first time that Ireland won back-to-back matches against New Zealand. * With this win, Ireland claimed top spot in the

World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nation ...

for the first time since 2019.

Notes

References

{{Ireland national rugby union team Ireland national rugby union team tours

Ireland national rugby union team tours of New Zealand Ireland tour of New Zealand