Gerry Thornley: Gone are the days that the All Blacks could name only one Ireland player

Way back when, Des Cahill was presenting the sports news on Morning Ireland and at the end of his bulletin following the 7.30am news, he requested that a Manchester United fan to come on to the show for his update an hour later.

The previous night they had beaten Derby County and having found one unsuspecting Man Utd fan, after his post-8.30am bulletin Des asked him to name three Derby players.

“Ah c’mon Des.” All right then, two? Nope. One? Nope, not even one.

The point being, of course, that Man Utd fans tend to live in a Man Utd world. Hold that thought.

The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times

---

Ulster’s turnaround under Richie Murphy

---

Munster must guard against complacency as they look to see off Ospreys at Thomond Park

---

Dan Sheehan: ‘Ulster do a great job of suffocating you in your own half ... we need to impose our game on them’

---

For some reason Ireland used to visit New Zealand quite frequently after the turn of the millennium. Ireland took on the All Blacks in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012, playing nine Tests and, of course, losing all nine.

Ireland were competitive in most of those games in the noughties, but there was a 66-28 defeat in New Plymouth in 2010, a 42-10 first Test defeat in Eden Park in 2012 and then the 60-0 Hamilton Horror Show in the third Test. We slinked off through the tradesman’s exit into the night for the flight home the next day with not too much in the way of goodbyes to our Kiwi colleagues.

They were not the good old days.

Throughout all that period when All Blacks players faced the media they would speak in the build-up to all those Tests, bar none, about Ireland’s “passion” and “commitment”. And they would always mention Brian O’Driscoll. And almost never anyone else.

The thought occurred multiple times about emulating Des and asking: “Name three other Irish players?

“No? Okay, go on, name two?

“No? Okay, maybe one?”

One ventures that it probably would have been a struggle for most of them. And how could you blame them? That record 60-0 defeat had been the seventh time in 16 Tests going back two decades in which the All Blacks had beaten an Irish side by more than 30 points. In 107 years up to that point, the countries had met 27 times, with New Zealand winning 26 and drawing once.

But now there is a true rivalry, perhaps the most compelling and entertaining in the global game over the last decade.

After their Thursday evening team announcement, Ardie Savea and Richie Mo’unga faced around a 50-strong mix of TV, radio, online and newspaper media, and Savea soon reeled off the names of the Irish backrow, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris.

“He’s a warrior,” Savea said of O’Mahony. “He has been around for such a long time but he is probably still one of the best loosies around. I don’t know how he does it, throwing his body around like that in every game.

“You watch him and then you play a few games [against him] and you relish the challenge. It’s testament to what Peter has done in the game and in the Irish jersey.

“For me it’s a great opportunity to go up against him and the other loose trio and for our brothers to go up against them and challenge ourselves against the best in the world. He is a legend of the game and of Irish rugby and he played his hundredth game last week so congratulations to him. Come Saturday it will be a good spectacle and a good battle.”

Savea also singled out Van der Flier and revealed: “A good mate of mine off the field, a good Christian man. He has been impressive. Always a hundred per cent, going hard. Just keeps going and could go for another 80.”

And on it went.

Cue Mo’unga: “They are all class but Mack Hansen, especially when he had his long hair coming out of his head gear, he is just pretty old school. He chases the ball and makes his tackles and nothing really magical but, yeah, he seems to get through some work. Sometimes it seems to go unnoticed, but he has really impressed me.”

If this had happened in the noughties some of us would have needed smelling salts to revive us off the floor. But it didn’t stop there.

In Tokyo at the last World Cup, Mo’unga didn’t give much of an answer beyond a cold-eyed stair when asked if he would be additionally motivated about coming up against the then World Player of the Year in the quarter-finals. But he was altogether more effusive about Johnny Sexton this time.

“Johnny’s all class, he’s world class. He’s a true director of his team, everything goes through Johnny and the way he’s able to play and be consistent – he’s really transcended the play of a first-five/flyhalf.

“It’s a true honour and a privilege to match up against someone like him. It’s really cool. For someone from the other side of the world, it’s really exciting.”

At this point, you really did have to wonder if they were pulling the wool over Irish eyes. Like everyone else in the All Blacks, Savea and Mo’unga were on point in declaring this ‘a final’ against the best team in the world.

“You can’t shy away from the fact of how great this Ireland team is,” said Mo’unga. “What they’ve done the last couple of years. Defensively, a really sound team, and able to put in some pressure moments, because of their set-piece, and the way they play the game. And they’re the best team in the world right now.

“We don’t have to be the best team in the world now, we’ve got to be the best team on the day, and that’s Saturday. So that’s a real target for us and something we’re looking forward to.”

None of this removes the certainty that the All Blacks will come out with vengeful, steely-eyed intent. And ultimately the result is all that matters. But even so, all has changed, changed utterly.