In sport, every forecast is perishable. All of the great pundits change their minds like a slot machine. So, is the Irish rugby team at the end of something old or at the start of something new? Are we still thinking more about the last World Cup than the next one? Are we stuck? Put your coins in the slot and pull the lever.
On Saturday in Chicago, New Zealand will bring some clarity to where we stand, as they have done so vividly and viciously in the past. Before the breakthrough game in Soldier Field nine years ago, Ireland’s average margin of defeat against the All-Blacks since the turn of the century had been 21 points from 14 meetings.
In those 15 years, Ireland had beaten every other tier-one Test nation but whatever empirical gains we made, however many times we beat England or France or Australia or South Africa, our performances ag
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