NEW ZEALAND MAY no longer be the greatest side in Test rugby but to face them in Auckland remains rugby’s greatest Test.

Fortress Eden Park has stood impenetrable for 32 years, last sacked by the French on 3 July, 1994.

With three minutes remaining in the second of a two-game series, the All Blacks — defeated by France in Christchurch a week earlier — led Les Bleus 20-16. New Zealand sought to play territory, but Philippe Saint-André kept infield a kick to touch inside the French 22′ and sparked the electrifying counter-attack which, a minute later, ended with Jean-Luc Sadourny crossing the whitewash to score what became known as ‘l’Essai du Bout du Monde’ (The Try from the End of the World).

France became the first side from the northern hemisphere to win a Test series against New Zealand of any description, and until Ireland’s famous summer visit in 2022, Pierre Berbizier’s Bleus remained the last side from anywhere in the world to have won a series against the All Blacks on Kiwi soil.

New Zealand are unbeaten in their last 52 Tests in Auckland, ‘The Streak’ made all the more impressive by the calibre of opposition they tend to face in the city.

New Zealand rugby typically preserves Eden Park for Tests for which they believe the All Blacks will require home advantage: since a 78-0 blowout of Samoa at the ground in 2017 (which was merely a warm-up game before facing the British & Irish Lions a week later), the only sides to visit Eden Park have been the Lions themselves, Ireland, England, France, and New Zealand’s Rugby Championship opponents.

Ireland have faced New Zealand in Auckland on just four occasions and they’ve conceded an average of 38 points. A 40-8 crushing in 2002 was followed four years later by Ireland’s narrowest margin of defeat at Eden Park, their spirited effort coming up short as Luke McAlister scored 14 points in a 27-17 success for the hosts.

And while they occurred a decade apart, Ireland have shipped 42 points in each of their last two Tests at the venue. They were blown away in the summer of 2012 and, in the first Test of what proved an iconic series victory four summers ago, they were seen off to the tune of 42-19.

The latter scoreline made Ireland’s task in 2022 feel quixotic and yet it flattered New Zealand a touch. While Andy Farrell’s men were sloppy, you’ll recall a couple of strange bounces and ricochets of the ball that aided New Zealand’s efforts. When you seek to lay siege to Eden Park, the ghosts that protect it are part of the bargain.

Farrell might as well have been speaking directly to his squad when, during his press duties earlier this week, he described the stadium as New Zealand’s “Mecca”.

“We’re the lucky ones,” he said. “We have a shot at doing something that nobody’s ever done, and nobody’s done it, certainly in the last wee while, for a reason.

“It’s their ground where they tend to attack the game, and we’ve been on the end of that, I’ve been on the end of that plenty of times.

“But this is a one-off chance, and we’ve got to see what we’re made of. That’s it. All you can do is be the best version of yourselves, and see what that type of opportunity can bring out in you, but there has to be a realisation of what you’re coming up against as well.”

In truth, when the Ireland boss included only three potential new caps in his original 36-man squad for Ireland’s three Nations Championship Tests in the southern hemisphere, he was saying the quiet part out loud: Ireland’s summer would be geared towards the All Blacks in Auckland.

The 2022 summer tour of New Zealand was long earmarked as a key stepping stone towards the following year’s World Cup, and here dangles the carrot for Farrell and Ireland once more.

While the men in green were ultimately edged by the All Blacks when it mattered even more, their landmark series victory on Kiwi soil was transformative, propelling Ireland to one of their own best-ever runs — until Paris, where, indeed, much of their performance against New Zealand was still excellent.

New Zealand have comprehensively regained the upper hand in the modern-day rivalry between the two sides — they’ve won their last three meetings with Ireland, the most recent two by double-digit scores — but they still smart about that home series reversal, which ended a 28-year streak of its own.

That they have chosen Eden Park as the destination for this Ireland Test could, on one hand, be considered a compliment for the visitors; another way to look at it is that New Zealand find Ireland annoying and they intend to hand them such a beating that not even the residue of a rivalry will remain on their sacred soil.

The last team to face the All Blacks in Auckland and not lose was the Lions during what should have been the decisive Test of the 2017 tour, only for the series to be shared after the sides’ 15-15 draw.

New Zealand’s closest call before that was the 2011 World Cup final in which they pipped France 8-7. The 52-Test unbeaten run began, meanwhile, with an 18-18 tie with the Springboks in ’94.

Only six other sides — Australia on half of such occasions — have gotten within seven points of the All Blacks in Auckland in the last 32 years.

A shot at history, rarer these days outside of a World Cup, awaits Ireland on Saturday. But so too do Dave Rennie’s rejuvenated All Blacks, who tend to become possessed by their own lore when they take to the field at Eden Park.