HISTORY LOOMS LARGE for Ireland. Never before have they won a series against the All Blacks.
Then again, few have.
Between them, the British and Irish Lions, Springboks, Wallabies, English, French and Welsh have played 49 series in New Zealand. Only five of those have gone the way of the tourists.
It’s one of three boxes left to tick in Irish rugby. In the last 22 years, they’ve broken their ducks against France away (first win in 28 years, 2000), Australia (first win since 1979 in 2002), South Africa (first win since 1965 in 2004), South Africa again (first win away in 2016), Australia again (first series win since 1979 in 2018).
That’s before we mention the first Grand Slam since 1948, the first away double in 46 years over France and England in the same season (2018) and of course those inaugural wins over the All Blacks in Chicago (2016), Dublin (2018) and here (last Saturday).
We all know what’s left. A World Cup quarter-final victory, a series win in South Africa and the chance to do something even better than a Grand Slam. Because that is what winning a three-test series here would amount to.
They expect it. That’s the stunning thing about this generation of Irish players. Those who went before them may have lacked belief. This lot don’t.
“You have to credit the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Paulie (O’Connell) who we have coaching us now, those sort of guys inspired this group,” says Caelan Doris. “We grew up watching them win and look, success leads on from success.”
Doris is old enough to remember 2009 and the breakthrough Grand Slam but young enough to look at you half-quizzically when you mention what happened in the 1990s.
Namibia? Ireland played the minnow twice – and lost twice in ’91.
Scotland? Eleven games, 10 Scottish wins, just one draw for Ireland throughout the decade.
France? Eleven games, 11 wins for Les Bleus.
Samoa? They hammered Ireland in Lansdowne Road.
Italy? There were three wins in a row for the Azzuri over Ireland.
Australia? It was eight wins from eight for the Wallabies.
South Africa? Three games with Ireland, three Springbok wins.
England? That was only marginally embarrassing, eight wins for the English, two for Ireland.
New Zealand? It was zilch from four for Ireland.
By the Noughties things were changing. One by one they fell, first when O’Driscoll got that hat-trick in Paris, then when the Aussies, English, Springboks, French came to town.
But one thing never changed. Like everyone else, the All Blacks bullied Ireland in the ‘90s but unlike everyone else, they continued to do so for the first 16 years of the 21st century.
Now and again Ireland would get close, losing by three in 2012, by two a year later. But since then this has evolved from a battle as one-sided as the Titanic’s tussle with the iceberg into a genuine rivalry, the last seven games going Ireland, New Zealand, Ireland, New Zealand, Ireland, New Zealand, Ireland.
“Beating them is always going to be tough,” said Ireland flanker, Nick Timoney, “because New Zealand rugby has always been top dogs for as long as I can remember.”
Yet that’s changing. On Tuesday, Timoney helped an experimental Irish side defeat the Maori All Blacks in what, essentially, was a second XV contest. It was also Ireland’s first win over a Maori side who had lost just twice in 19 years.
This is Timoney again: “Listen, every good team has an element of fear about them. You know what they could do to you if you don’t turn up.
“I don’t want to be sounding disrespectful but when you beat a team a couple of times you sort of realise that they’re human, we’re human, and certain parts of the game will dictate how the result goes.
“We know that if we dominate those parts of the game, we’ll win and that realisation has certainly hit Irish rugby in the last few years.
“There are lads who pretty much known being on par with and beating the All Blacks their entire time in international rugby now whereas back 10 or 15 years ago it was sort of this mystical thing that maybe couldn’t be done. That’s gone.”
On Saturday, remarkably when you consider how much of an embarrassment Ireland were in the 1990s, another scalp could be taken.
“We have belief,” says Doris, “in the gameplan, in our coaches, in each other. And after making a little bit of history last Saturday, the aim is to try and outdo that this weekend.”
Why stop now?