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.ROOKIE FLYHALF THROWN INTO DEEP ENDCoach Rassie Erasmus, always looking to tinker and surprise, has picked 20-year-old debutant Vusi Moyo at flyhalf despite only one senior franchise outing for the Sharks at the end of the United Rugby Championship some nine weeks ago.“My heart skipped a bit faster when the team was announced,” Moyo said this week.A similarly experimental Springbok side was stretched at home by Scotland last weekend but did run out winners.The Scots are back home this Saturday to play Fiji at Murrayfield.England returned to winning ways when they thrashed Fiji in Liverpool last Saturday but are under pressure again away against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.If they lose, the side could slump down to seventh in the rankings.In Saturday's other fixtures, Japan host France in Tokyo while Australia look to get a first win of the competition when they host Italy in Perth. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Toby Davis)
