Ireland v New Zealand kick-off time, date, TV and stream information, betting odds and more
Ireland and New Zealand collide in a massive Rugby World Cup quarter-final this weekend with 10s of thousands of Irish fans expected to descend on Paris once again.
Andy Farrell's men are aiming to go where no Irish team has gone before by advancing to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Ireland have a terrible record at this stage of the tournament, but come into the game as favourites against three-time champions the All Blacks.
Ireland have ripped through their pool in seriously impressive fashion with defending world champions South Africa beaten along the way in a titanic battle.
Thankfully, Farrell's side have been fairly fortunate in the injury front so far with only James Ryan likely to miss the quarter-final clash.
Mack Hansen (calf) didn't take part in training at the squad's Paris base on Tuesday but watched in the shade of a small stand. Farrell has named him in the starting side for Saturday, however.
James Lowe, Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls trained in some part on Tuesday albeit Lowe with a clearly still-closed black-eye was wearing a 'do not touch' white bib.
Jimmy O'Brien comes into contention for a spot on the wing if needed.
New Zealand will delay their team selection until Thursday for a match which, it was revealed, will be refereed by England's Wayne Barnes.
Here's everything you need to know about it:
Date
Saturday, October 14.
Time
8pm Irish time, which is 9pm in France.
Venue
The Stade de France, where Ireland defeated both South Africa and Scotland in recent weeks, hosts the match.
TV information
The game will be shown live on Virgin Media 1 in the Republic of Ireland with coverage starting at 6.50pm
ITV will also show live coverage of the game in the UK, with their build-up beginning at 7.15pm.
Stream information
The game can be streamed on the ITV Player in the UK and for fans in Ireland, a stream can be found on the Virgin Media Player.
Ireland team
H Keenan (Leinster); M Hansen (Connacht), G Ringrose (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Sexton (Leinster, capt), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); A Porter (Leinster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), I Henderson (Ulster), P O’Mahony (Munster), J Van Der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), F Bealham (Connacht), J McCarthy (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), J Crowley (Munster), J O’Brien (Leinster).
New Zealand team
To be announced.
Quotes corner
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton: “We’ve worked on our mental game for the last four years.
“We’ve put ourselves in different scenarios over the last four years to prepare for this.
“But each quarter-final that we haven’t got through, or when we haven’t got through our pool, they’ve all been different and it’s a different group again.
“Each of those groups lost once, it wasn’t the same group losing quarter-finals year after year.
“If it was club rugby, it would probably be a bigger hurdle, but it’s a different group. I don’t think we’re carrying much baggage. It’s a one-off game and we’ve got to prepare for it now.”
Ireland's Jack Conan: "We have been playing knock-out rugby since day one. We knew even Romania and Tonga were knock-out rugby, we wanted to top our group and be in control of our own destiny and that is what we have done.
"Our mentality won't change this week, it's knock-out rugby again. New Zealand are an incredible side, they have bounced back incredibly well and they have put out great performances over the last couple of weeks.
"They are a team we have played a lot in the last few years, a quality outfit, one of the best in the world. It won't be easy but we don't want it to be easy.
"We love a good challenge and the lads are relishing the opportunity to play them again and it is going to be huge for the entire nation.
"Everyone at home, people who are travelling over, so we will have 60,000 people here supporting us but we will have hundreds of thousands supporting us back home. It is going to be one of the biggest games of our career, if not the biggest."
New Zealand scrum-half Aaron Smith: "We are at a World Cup, we are playing in a final and it's all on the line. History is history and history is going to be created on Saturday and we will see who comes out on top.
"My whole All Black career I have had very tough encounters against Ireland.
"They are the best team in the world, they are who I debuted against so some fond memories for me. Ups and downs, wins and losses but they are a great team and we are just really excited about the challenge, can't wait."
