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Ireland are 'tenacious' and 'structured' - All Blacks coach Steve Hansen

New Zealand head-coach Steve Hansen says he's not expecting any surprises from Ireland in Saturda...



New Zealand head-coach Steve Hansen says he's not expecting any surprises from Ireland in Saturday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Tokyo.

Joe Schmidt's side holds two wins over the All-Blacks in their last three meetings and the men in green kept the defending champions tryless in last November's meeting at the Aviva Stadium.

Hansen thinks Ireland will once again adopt a play which will aim to restrict chances for his team:

"They're tenacious. They play a pretty structured game that they know they're good at.

"They don't wander too far off the script and they're not a team that give you a lot of opportunities through mistakes and they're pretty good at keeping the ball.

"When they kick it, they kick it to put pressure on you, rather than give you a free shot."

Hansen's opted again for dual playmakers with Richie Mo'unga at out-half and Beauden Barrett at fullback:

"Twelve months ago, we were picking two people together. Richie was one of them. He came on in the Dublin game.

"We used Damian McKenzie in a number of test matches with Beaudy. It's something we have been playing with for a while. We're pretty comfortable with it.

"Both of them are playing well and it'll be a great opportunity to see how far we've come with them on Saturday."

The 2015 World Cup winning coach knows Saturday's game could be his final match in charge, but he says that's not been a focus this week:

"It'll affect me when it's finished. You haven't got any room to get ga-ga emotional. You're here to do a job.

"The team is bigger than the individual, always has been, always will be.

"The jersey and legacy of the jersey demands you to be there giving 100 per cent of what you have. So you don't have time to think about yourself. You're thinking about the job you've got to do.

"When the tournament is over, that's when you step back and have a reflection and think about what's next and what life will be like. But at the moment, it's not even in your mind.

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