Good early start key for All Blacks to 'turn the dial back' against Ireland, says McCaw

Ex-New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said his former side have to start well against Ireland in Saturday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final if they hope to upset the odds.

The All Blacks face the world number one side in Paris for a place in the semi-finals and a win would also end Ireland's 18-match unbeaten run.

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Andy Farrell's Ireland raced through Pool B with victories over Scotland, Tonga and Romania and managed to edge World Cup holders South Africa, despite failing to score until after half an hour against the Springboks.

"I think if the Irish are allowed to settle in, they're pretty well drilled and they know how they do things," two-time World Cup winner McCaw said.

"If you disrupt that I'm not sure they've really had to get themselves sorted there.

"That will be the main thing - to make sure they don't get their own way, especially early on," the 42-year-old added.

New Zealand

15 Beauden Barrett; 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leicester Fainga'anuku; 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Aaron Smith; 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell; 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick; 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot

Substitutes: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Dalton Papali'i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Ireland team:

15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter

Substitutes: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17