Chasing a world record: All Blacks stand in Ireland’s way of equalling most consecutive wins

Records are trinkets of success, nice to look at but of secondary value when placed alongside the main prize. Andy Farrell’s Ireland side will be focused exclusively on the playing mechanisms required to beat New Zealand in a World Cup quarter-final at the Stade de France on Saturday night (8.0, Irish time).

If they manage that goal, then there are ancillary benefits or milestones. No Ireland side have ever reached a World Cup semi-final since the inaugural tournament in 1987 and if they do beat the All Blacks then they will draw level with New Zealand and England, holders of a world record for the most consecutive Test match wins, 18, by a Tier 1 country.

This Saturday in Paris provides a certain symmetry or happenstance when it comes to that world record as it was Ireland who independently ended both the New Zealand and England sequences of 18 successive Test match victories.

Steve Hansen’s All Blacks winning streak started with a 41-13 thumping of Australia in August 2015 to win the Bledisloe Cup for the 13th year in succession, incorporated the 2015 Rugby World Cup triumph and ran until November 6th, when they faced Joe Schmidt’s Ireland at Soldier Field, Chicago.

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Ireland ended an 111-year streak without a win against New Zealand by claiming a 40-29 success, immortalised prematch by the figure of eight in which the Irish players stood to face the Haka in honour of the late Anthony Foley and then by a stunning performance capped by tries from Jordie Murphy, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Simon Zebo and Robbie Henshaw.

The England run began with the last match of the 2015 World Cup against Uruguay in October 2015, a game that represented Stuart Lancaster’s final one in charge before being replaced by Australian Eddie Jones. The latter had coached Japan to a famous triumph over the Springboks in Brighton during the tournament.

Jones led England to a Six Nations Championship Grand Slam and didn’t lose a single match in his first season in charge. Ireland hosted England as Jones’ charges looked to claim a second successive Grand Slam at the Aviva Stadium in March 2017. Iain Henderson’s try was the decisive score with Johnny Sexton kicking two penalties and a conversion.

Andy Farrell’s Irish side is currently on a 17-match winning streak that dates to the second Test against the All Blacks in the summer of 2022 when they prevailed in the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, a first win for Ireland in an international on New Zealand soil. The following week Ireland went on to win the series 2-1 in Wellington.

Since then, Ireland have beaten the defending world champions South Africa twice and won a Grand Slam earlier this year. While it would be nice to potentially join New Zealand and England on 18 Test wins and potential go on to claim the record outright with a semi-final win, the only matter concerning Ireland this weekend is winning a game of rugby.

Twice Ireland have been cast in the role of party poopers and now they find themselves on the other side of the fence and as fate would have it the team barring their path is the All Blacks, who get a chance to derail that winning sequence.

Ireland’s winning streak

1 New Zealand 12 Ireland 23, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Ireland had lost the opening two fixtures of the five-match tour to the Maori All Blacks and the first Test (42-19) against New Zealand and many feared what might transpire. Angus Ta’avao’s head-on-head tackle on Garry Ringrose earned him a red card, the hosts also racked up two yellows, while Andrew Porter’s brace of tries earned a famous win.

2 New Zealand 22 Ireland 32, Sky Stadium, Wellington

Ireland led 22-3 at halftime with tries from Josh van der Flier, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw but Rob Herring’s try on 64 minutes helped to stave off an All Blacks fightback. Ireland became the first side since France (1994), whom they replaced as the number one team in the world after the victory, to win a Test series in New Zealand.

3 Ireland 19 South Africa 16, Aviva Stadium

Conor Murray won his 100th cap for Ireland, Jimmy O’Brien his first when coming on as a replacement for Stuart McCloskey on a day when the home side squeezed past the world champions with tries from man-of-the-match Josh van der Flier and Mack Hansen. Johnny Sexton’s boot did the rest.

4 Ireland 35 Fiji 17, Aviva Stadium

Jack Crowley, Cian Prendergast and Jeremy Loughman won their first Irish caps. Ireland crossed for five tries, a brace for flanker Nick Timoney and one apiece for Robert Baloucoune, Mack Hansen and replacement Cian Healy. Tadhg Furlong captained Ireland. Fiji suffered a red card and Andy Farrell wasn’t happy with his team’s performance.

5 Ireland 13 Australia 10, Aviva Stadium

Johnny Sexton was a late withdrawal, Jack Crowley started. Young secondrow Joe McCarthy became the fifth player to make his Irish debut when coming off the bench in a hard-fought victory. Ireland led 3-0 at half-time, Bundee Aki grabbed a try, but it took a late penalty from an ice-cool Ross Byrne to salvage a win.

6 Wales 10 Ireland 34, Principality Stadium

Jamison Gibson-Park and Cian Healy withdrew on the morning of the game. Caelan Doris gave Ireland the perfect start, James Ryan and James Lowe added further tries but it wasn’t until Josh van der Flier’s late score that Ireland secured a bonus point win and their first Six Nations triumph in Cardiff for 10 years.

7 Ireland 32 France 19, Aviva Stadium

Ireland dethroned the defending Six Nations champions and brought an end to a 14-match winning streak to boot. Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Andrew Porter and Garry Ringrose crossed for tries while number eight Caelan Doris produced a man of the match performance. Ross Byrne once again guided Ireland home in the final quarter.

8 Italy 20 Ireland 34, Stadio Olimpico

Andy Farrell’s side produced a patchy performance, one of the most revealing statistics that the team had missed a whopping 27 tackles. Craig Casey and Ross Byrne started the game as Ireland’s halfbacks. Mack Hansen crossed for two tries, James Ryan, Hugo Keenan and Bundee Aki the other players to cross the Italian line.

9 Scotland 7 Ireland 22, Murrayfield

Prop Cian Healy filled in as an emergency hooker that took him back to his school days while flanker Josh van der Flier was obliged to throw into the lineout following injuries to Dan Sheehan and his replacement Ronan Kelleher, both of whom suffered shoulder issues. Jack Conan’s try gave the visitors some breathing space on the scoreboard.

10 Ireland 29 England 16, Aviva Stadium

Ireland completed the Grand Slam with a memorable victory. England fullback Freddie Steward’s red card for a dangerous challenge on Hugo Keenan changed the complexion of the game. Victory brought a fourth Six Nations title in 10 years, a first since 2018 and a record seventh Triple Crown in the Six Nations era.

11 Ireland 33 Italy 17, Aviva Stadium

Jack Conan was forced off with a foot injury in the first of the World Cup warm-up matches and he would not play again until Ireland’s final pool match in the tournament when he came on as a replacement against Scotland. Jacob Stockdale started but did not make the squad for France.

12 Ireland 29 England 10, Aviva Stadium

England’s Billy Vunipola was sent off for a high tackle as Ireland secured a comfortable win. Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Mack Hansen and Keith Earls all crossed for the world’s number one-ranked side. Dan Sheehan limped off injured but it was a much better display then the one against Italy.

13 Ireland 17 Samoa 13, Bayonne

Cian Healy’s leg injury put a downer on what was a hard-fought win for Andy Farrell’s side, one that would eventually rule him out of the World Cup. Ireland trailed 10-7 at halftime, Jimmy O’Brien crossed for the try but it took two more, from Conor Murray and Rob Herring to eke out the victory in Bayonne.

14 Ireland 82 Romania 8, Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton eclipsed Ronan O’Gara as the highest Irish points scorer in the tournament history and pulled himself closer to his former Munster rivals’ all-time mark with a 24-point tally that included two tries. Tadhg Beirne, Bundee Aki and Peter O’Mahony also scored a brace each as part of a 12-try haul.

15 Ireland 59 Tonga 16, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Johnny Sexton’s try saw him surpass Ronan O’Gara’s Irish record of 1,083 points, his 18th for his country, placing him joint eighth on that list. Andy Farrell said: “It’s so fitting that he broke the record with a try like that. To us, as a leader, as a player, he’s a lot more than a points-scoring machine for Ireland.”

16 Ireland 13 South Africa 8, Stade de France

Ireland overcame lineout issues in the first half to beat the reigning world champions in a pivotal pool clash. Trailing to a Manie Libbok penalty Ireland responded with a Mack Hansen try, Bundee Aki turned in a man-of-the-match display and Jack Crowley kicked a late penalty to seal the victory after replacing Johnny Sexton.

17 Ireland 36 Scotland 14, Stade de France

Ireland scored six tries through Hugo Keenan (2), James Lowe, Iain Henderson, Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose, lost wings Lowe and Mack Hansen to injury, led 26-0 at half-time, brought five forwards on in one go after 48 minutes, and still won pulling up. It was a ninth straight win over Scotland and took them to within one of equalling the Tier 1 record of successive wins.