'He's a big loss' - Whitelock absence a boost for Ireland

Ireland will be boosted by the absence of All Blacks second row Sam Whitelock in this Saturday's second Test, according to Bernard Jackman.

The 133-cap Whitelock will miss this Saturday's Test in Dunedin, having reported concussion symptoms following New Zealand's 42-19 win against Ireland in Auckland.

The 33-year-old's place in the team has been filled by flanker Dalton Papalii, while Scott Barrett reverts to his usual spot in the second row.

Crucially, the veteran lock is Ian Foster's regular lineout caller, a role that will now be filled by Brodie Retallick. And with Papalii more known for his work as a ball-carrier, it removes a major threat from the All Blacks lineout, which caused Ireland a lot of disruption last week.

"He's a big loss," said Bernard Jackman on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast.

"He had a pretty poor game in Dublin in November, he got rattled and I thought he was outstanding last week. Someone of his experience, there are certain games they know they want to nail, and he nailed it.

"Obviously the fact Scott Barrett moved from six into the second row removes one of their defensive lineout options, again that should help us.

"Papalii is a bigger ball-carrier but he's less of a lineout option, and they brought Patrick Tuipulotu onto the bench who is a very powerful player."

And although the three-time world champions have lost their most experienced active player, and a forward who has previously captained the team, Jackman says it's still an All Blacks team loaded with quality.

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the