Ireland's NZ tour times and dates confirmed

Ireland's opening Test of their summer tour to New Zealand will take place at Eden Park on Saturday 2 July.

Andy Farrell brings his team to New Zealand for the first time since he took over as head coach in December 2019; indeed Ireland haven't toured the Land of the Long White Cloud since 2012.

Ireland will also play two midweek games that have yet to be confirmed.

After the opening Test in Auckland the countries will clash at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday 9 July, before a final collision at the SKY Stadium in Wellington seven days later.

Farrell has previously described the tour as "massive" as Ireland continue to build towards the 2023 World Cup.

The Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of tours to Australia in 2020 and Fiji in 2021.

"It's the perfect opportunity that we need. We've talked time and time again about the lack of touring. It's priceless," said Farrell.

"It looks like we're able to take a slightly bigger group, which is great. There's people that's already had a sniff, some people that have not had a game, but we want to see them under pressure and going to New Zealand, there will be no pressure like it.

"It's the perfect opportunity for us to find out more about ourselves."

Ireland Summer Tour to New Zealand (Irish times)

New Zealand v Ireland, Saturday 2 July, 8.05am, Eden Park New Zealand v Ireland, Saturday 9 July, 8.05am, Forsyth Barr Stadium New Zealand v Ireland, Saturday 16 July, 8.05am, Sky Stadium