Is a lack of game time a concern for Ireland? It has to be a worry going into this match.
[14] players who are in the squad featured in the Lions tour, including seven of the eight forwards but it has to be a concern.
I think Andy Farrell is well aware of that and as a consequence, he decided to bring the squad to Chicago last Tuesday.
So they have been together for 12 days.
Now, that said, you can do so much in training, you can replicate physicality and all that, but I don't think there is anything that can replicate the intensity of an international of this quality.
New Zealand certainly have the edge in terms of being battle-hardened. They've played nine Tests since last June, including six incredibly intense games in what was the best Rugby Championship of all time.
They lost two of those games, but they ended up second to South Africa only on points differential.
I don't think they are as good an All Blacks squad as in the recent past, but they're still the All Blacks.
But I don't think we've ever had a fresher Irish squad, if you want to put it that way.
Between New Zealand and Ireland, there has been a rivalry that has built up, I think, ever since this game nine years ago.
A lot of the All Blacks talk about the horror of being the first New Zealand team to lose to Ireland. You look at what's happened since.
There's an intense rivalry, there have been ten games between them, and it's five wins apiece.
Ireland had that brilliant Test series, they won a Test series in New Zealand in 2022. Bear in mind, the Lions have only ever won one Test series in New Zealand.
But New Zealand, of course, they won the all-important quarter-final in the 2023 World Cup, so that stands for a lot. But New Zealand no longer take Ireland for granted, and I think that's huge coming into this game.
There is a lot of pressure on Jack Crowley at 10 but I think he's built for pressure.
By his own admission, he felt he didn't play as well as he could have last season. He went away, he revamped his whole training programme.
He has come back leaner and stronger after a brilliant pre-season. You have to say, on form alone, he deserves the starting slot over Sam Prendergast.
He certainly was outstanding in that Munster win over Leinster a couple of weeks ago, so I think a lot of eyebrows would have been raised had he not been selected to start this game.
I suppose the other one is Stuart McCloskey getting the nod at 12, given that Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw are in the squad.
In fact, Bundee is on the bench and I think to be fair to Andy Farrell, he's picked that on form. McCloskey has had a very good start to the season with Ulster.
But also it's significant. Andy Farrell, remember, was on sabbatical with the Lions for a year. He is now back.
You never hear him talking about the future, it's always the next match, but the cycle for the next World Cup starts this November and I'm not surprised because there is an element of the unknown.
Ireland didn't play as well last season as they had in previous seasons.
They are starting this November campaign against New Zealand this weekend.
They play Japan, Australia and then finish it on 22 November against South Africa, who are the undoubted number one team in the world. So I think we will know a huge amount of where Ireland sits at the end of this series.
I think we can win it, but I think given those games that New Zealand have had, I just think the fact that they are that bit more in tune with the international game, I think that's going to be enough to get them over the line.
I expect a lot better performance from Ireland than people are giving them credit for, given the fact that so many of those Leinster players didn't play well last time out.
Donal Lenihan was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland
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