'For me it smacks of a massive opportunity' - New Zealand tour brings great potential says O'Gara

Ronan O'Gara believes Ireland can marry the best of both worlds on their summer tour of New Zealand.

Andy Farrell's side face the All Blacks in a three-Test series in July, on what will be their first visit to New Zealand since 2012.

The Irish head coach used 32 different players over the course of the Guinness Six Nations championship, with Mack Hansen and Mike Lowry making their debuts, with hooker Dan Sheehan establishing himself as a regular in the starting team.

And with the tour falling just over a year out from the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, it's expected to be a crucial tool in Ireland's development, with many people calling for Farrell to use the games to get experience into some of his younger players.

But with the IRFU also looking to arrange two further midweek fixtures, Farrell will likely have scope to bring an expanded squad with him, which O'Gara says will allow him develop the wider group, while also protecting the short term goals.

"For me they both work hand in hand," said O'Gara, at the launch of this year's Aviva Mini Rugby Festivals

"This is top, top level sport. It's ruthless. You want to set your players up to succeed. It’ll be a hard environment in the middle of winter, on a winter surface in New Zealand. It’ll be different rugby to what we’ll see in the next two or three months with firm pitches.

"You’re going into the middle of winter, they’ll be hostile environments but passionate fans. It’s a fantastic test as a rugby player.

"For me it smacks of a massive opportunity. At the same time, you look throughout the Six Nations campaign, and a lot of different players were used, but none of them are unproven, so it’s deadly competitive to get into the Irish team, let alone the squad.

"You’ll have a