Kearney calls for World Cup repeat
Rob Kearney says Ireland will call upon the spirit and determination that saw them defeat Australia at the World Cup when they face New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday.
The Irish will return to the ground where they defeated the Wallabies 15-9 last September for the first of their three Test matches against New Zealand.
The Leinster full-back said: “[Saturday] is our best chance because it is our next chance. And if the first Test doesn’t go our way then the one after that will be our best chance again after that.”
Kearney, who won the European Player of the Year award after an impressive season with Leinster and Ireland, is looking forward to the weekend encounter in Auckland.
He said: “It was a huge occasion for us to turn over Australia in a World Cup. As players, we always believe that we can match it with the best teams in the world when we turn up and we play good rugby.
“As a player and as a team, you have to believe that.”
Kearney added: “There wasn’t a huge element of surprise for us [afterwards] as a group of players. What’s important for us is that we keep trying to reproduce that form. We set a bar there in that game, a standard, and it is important for us to keep matching that.”
