Ireland captain Rory Best believes that his side need to prove that they can consistently challenge the best teams in the world after finally ending their New Zealand unbeaten run.
Joe Schmidt’s side became the first Ireland team to ever beat the All Blacks two weeks ago when they powered their way to a 40-29 victory in Chicago.
While Best was happy to see Ireland finally end the 111-year wait for a victory over New Zealand, he is eager not to see his side rest on their laurels.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Best admitted that the win over the All Blacks has raised the standards for Ireland and claimed that they must maintain that level of performance.
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“I think it probably pushed us on to a bit of another level in terms of where we know we can get to,” he said.
“I think we have got close to there before but in terms of an 80 minute performance it was pretty close.
“We know defensively we can do a lot better but I think we’re under no illusions that it is going to take a better performance.
“We’re up against a team that are world number one, they’ve won 18 in a row before the Chicago game and they are really the epitome of consistency so we have to match their consistency to have any chance.
“For us it’s about pitting ourselves against the best in the world and getting the opportunity in an Autumn series to play the All Blacks twice is obviously massive.
“We have another opportunity against the best team in the world just to see exactly where we are and can we reach the consistency and the level of consistency that as a group we want to really push towards to.”
On paper Ireland will be facing a stronger New Zealand side than the one that they overcame in Soldier Field.
First choice locks Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick have returned from injury and are both included in New Zealand team which looks likely to be a more physical side.
However, it’s not all good news for Steven Hansen’s side as regular blindside flanker, Jerome Kaino, is ruled out with a calf strain.
Regardless of who lines out for the All Blacks, Best insists that Ireland can only look after their own game.
“There’s been a lot made of the two second rows coming in,” he said. “Look they’ve brought in two world class second row but they’re lost Jerome Kaino, a world class player who obviously played the last time out.
“For us it’s about making sure we perform. We’ve got Sean [O’Brien] coming back in and he has got a standard to try to get beyond that Jordi [Murphy] delivered for 20 minutes and Josh [van der Flier] delivered to 60 minutes, so we have a bit of competition ourselves.
“We can’t control who they pick and how they play. We can only control how we perform and how we react to situations and how we prepare and by and large we’ve prepared well.
“We’re back at home now and we expect a level of performance here and while Chicago will be something we look back fondly on when we retire, ultimately it’s about the here and now.
“The here and now is the All Blacks tomorrow at 5:30 and producing a performance and ultimately we’re in the business of results and that’s what we want to get.”
Watch Ireland v New Zealand (kick-off 5.30pm) live on RTÉ2, listen live on Radio 1's Saturday Sport and follow RTE Sport Online's live blog.
