Ireland vs New Zealand: Damian McKenzie at 10 ‘exciting’ for All Blacks says team-mate Will Jordan

All Black Will Jordan is backing team-mate Damian McKenzie to deliver against Ireland in the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

The 29-year-old will start in the visitor’s ten jersey in Dublin after Beauden Barrett picked up an injury in their win over England last week.

“It’s exciting. Damian is someone who loves to play the game with an attacking mindset and flair,” said Jordan.

“I’ve had a couple of games with him at ten and me out the back and I’ve enjoyed the combination we’ve had.

“We get on well together off the park, good friends. It’s always fun running out with someone that you’re close with.

“I know he’ll be excited to take this opportunity. He’s had some great moments for us in the black jersey this year and I’m sure he’ll go out and nail it on Friday night.”

While New Zealand got the better of things when these sides last met, coming out on top 28-24 at the quarter-final stage of the 2023 World Cup, Jordan does not think past meetings have much meaning come Friday, especially with the All Blacks under a different head coach in Scott Robertson.

“Inside you’ve got good memories of what happened last year but, in terms of as a team, it’s not something we’ve touched on a lot.

“We’ve obviously got a pretty new coaching staff, playing the game a bit differently to how we were then.

“In terms of how we’ve previewed it, it’s been a little bit different and there’s been a decent change to the team that we had 12 months ago, so it’s a bit of a clean slate in that regard.”