PREVIEW-Ireland eye end to All Blacks' 52-test Eden Park run

July 16 : New Zealand’s proud home record at Eden Park comes under threat from Ireland on Saturday in the third round of Nations Championship matches as the southern hemisphere leg of the new competition wraps up.

Ireland have beaten both Australia and Japan over the last fortnight and now look to extend that run across the Tasman Sea where the All Blacks have not lost at Eden Park since a 1994 defeat to France.

It is a 52-test run that has turned the Auckland venue into a stronghold, and one of the sport’s most feared venues.

Ireland’s last trip to New Zealand was for a three-test series four years ago where they lost 42-19 in the opening clash at Eden Park but then upset the All Blacks in Dunedin and Wellington for an unprecedented series success. But since then they have lost three clashes with the Kiwis.

Ireland’s Auckland-born scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park believes his side can end the home team's streak.

"We probably haven't shown it in the first two outings (of the Nations Championship), I don't think, certainly with enough consistency,” he told reporters this week.

"If we can get back to the level we finished at the Six Nations, I think we can be there or thereabouts, so that's our challenge for this weekend," he added.

Ireland are the only side in the northern group with a 100 per cent record after the first two of six rounds while in the southern section New Zealand and South Africa have won their opening fixtures.

The Springboks have a home clash against Wales and are using the encounter to blood new players with an eye to increased competition for places ahead of next year’s defence of their World Cup title.

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