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Ireland v New Zealand : 'The Second Test', kicks off tomorrow morning at 8.05 am Irish time, at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Andy Farrell has only made once change to the starting XV, with Mack Hansen coming in for Keith Earls, clearly prioritising a first win on New Zealand soil over rotation and new combinations.
There was some expectation heading into the squad announcement on Thursday that we may see Joey Carbery come into the starting line-up, or the likes of Craig Casey or Gavin Coombes get a chance in the 23.
Ireland v New Zealand : Lack of Change?
This was not the case, and when speaking with David Gillick for Balls, Stephen Ferris criticised this lack of rotation in the match-day squad, emphasising the importance of building depth for next year's World Cup.
Yeah it's important. But David lets cut to the chase here, there's no development going on. Because it's the same faces we've seen over the last couple of seasons that are playing. And that's fair enough when you're playing against arguably the best team in the world in the All Blacks.
"You want to field your strongest team and try and get off to a good start. But that didn't happen and I fully expected a few changes to be made. I didn't expect to see Sexton start. I know he only played twenty minutes last week but he's a competitor, he'll want to lead his team and try and get a result.
5 July 2022; Ireland v New Zealand : Joey Carbery during Ireland rugby squad training at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
"But the development of a general squad, and we're all talking about the World Cup in 2023. I think every Irish fan would lose the next ten internationals games to get past the quarter-final in the rugby World Cup. I know I probably certainly would.
"Having to watch Andrew Porter play seventy or eighty minutes every week for Leinster and for Ireland. The strength in depth in second row as well, Iain goes down. Not that you're scraping the barrel. You're going down the pecking order, you're going down the quality, the talent.
"Those guys aren't going to get any better David unless they get exposure at the highest level against the best teams, and they're not getting exposure. And everyone's talking about Ciarán Frawley and Harry Byrne, you know Joey Carbery, they're not getting enough minutes."
"It's as simple as that, and if we're going to hang our hat on the same fifteen to twenty lads from the last World Cup to go into this World Cup and do the same thing, we've got to learn from our mistakes.
"It feels like it's the same book that's being written and it's going to have the same ending, the quarter-final stage of the World Cup that's what it feels like at the minute. And who knows it might all change, we might get a result this weekend and mix it up the following week, but lets wait and see."
2 July 2022; Ireland v New Zealand : The front rows, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Codie Taylor and George Bower prepare for a scrum with Ireland players Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong during the Steinlager Series match between the New Zealand and Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
If Ireland do indeed manage an historic win tomorrow, and changes are made for the third test, Farrell's 'conservatism' will seem like a masterstroke. However, the days until the World Cup are decreasing rapidly, and Ireland's unfortunate record of never having reached a semi-final continues to hang depressingly overhead.
The game is live on Sky Sports, where you can also watch England, Wales, and France throughout the day as well.
SEE ALSO: Ireland v New Zealand : Everything You Need To Know Ahead Of 2nd Test
