Eddie O’Sullivan: ‘Ireland would beat All Blacks again’

Former coach Eddie O’Sullivan believes Ireland are a better team than the All Blacks but acknowledges the 2023 Rugby World Cup is still some time away.

Andy Farrell’s Irish side created further history last weekend, becoming the first northern hemisphere side to win a series in New Zealand after a 32-22 triumph in the third Test.

O’Sullivan claims Ireland could beat the All Blacks again if they played but knows things will change slightly by the World Cup.

“If we played New Zealand again next week, we’d probably beat them again,” O’Sullivan said on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound Extra Time.

“But I think, come the World Cup, things will even up again.

“There is a lot of water to flow under the bridge between now and next year,” he added.

“Everyone gets more focused for the World Cup, but I do think we’re right up there.

“At the moment we are the better team. There’s no debating that.

“So it’s a very unusual place for New Zealand to be and a very unusual place for Ireland to be, but we’re number one in the world today for a very good reason.”

The 63-year-old addressed the concern of peaking before next year’s showpiece event, claiming that it is essential for Ireland to take these historical moments and use them to build.

“I find that a difficult conversation because you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he added.

“You can’t say, ‘we don’t want to win that Test series because we might peak too soon’.

“You’ve got to take what’s in front of you. You’ve got to take the historical moments because they will stand us in good stead down the track.

“When we play New Zealand again, they are going to be more worried than we are.

“Ireland have emerged now as a team well capable of putting together really good gameplans and