New Zealand v Ireland betting tips, odds, predictions – RWC 2019 quarter-final 2

Welcome to our free predictions and odds update for the second quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and Ireland at Tokyo Stadium on Saturday, October 19.

The winners of this match will play the winners of the first quarter-final between Australia and England in a semi-final at International Stadium Yokohama on Saturday, October 26.

Well, it took 111 years of trying for Ireland to finally beat the All Blacks in a rugby Test. Then they did it against two years later. Now the question is can the men in green do it on the biggest stage?

Bookmakers do not think so, posting New Zealand as $1.18 favourites to advance to the semi-finals, while Ireland are around $4.75, despite having won two of their past three clashes with the defending champions.

The All Blacks have been tested only by South Africa so far in this Rugby World Cup, though they might be a touch underdone given their final Pool B match against Italy was cancelled due to the Typhoon.

ALSO READ:
Quarter-final 1: England v Australia betting preview
Quarter-final 3: Wales v France betting preview
Quarter-final 4: Japan v South Africa betting preview

Meanwhile, Ireland have spluttered a little, crushing Scotland before falling victim to hosts Japan, then comfortably accounting for minnows Russia and Samoa.

The good news for Ireland coach Joe Schmidt is that his team’s defence has been outstanding; they have conceded just two tries in four matches.

But they will need to be at their best against the All Blacks, with a big performance required from veteran fly-half Johnny Sexton, the key to the attack.

New Zealand have fallen short of the semi-finals only once, when beaten in the quarter-finals by France 20-18 in Wales in 2007. They won’t want that to happen again and send the rugby-mad nation into meltdown.

Check out our team previews to get the RWC lead-up form, our tips for leading try-scorer from each team and where we think they will finish in the tournament.

New Zealand
Ireland

Here are our New Zealand v Ireland predictions and odds for their clash at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

ALSO READ:

Rugby World Cup quarter-final 2 – New Zealand v Ireland

Kick-off: 7.15pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: Tokyo Stadium

New Zealand v Ireland odds

Head to head odds: New Zealand $1.18, Ireland $4.75
Handicap line odds: New Zealand (-12.5 points) $1.91, Ireland (+12.5 points) $1.91

New Zealand v Ireland – past 10 meetings

November 15, 2008: New Zealand 22 d Ireland 3, Croke Park, Dublin
June 12, 2010: New Zealand 66 d Ireland 28, Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
November 20, 2010: New Zealand 38 d Ireland 18, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
June 9, 2012: New Zealand 42 d Ireland 10, Eden Park, Auckland
June 16, 2012: New Zealand 22 d Ireland 19, Rugby League Park, Christchurch
June 23, 2012: New Zealand 60 d Ireland 0, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
November 24, 2013: New Zealand 24 d Ireland 22, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
November 5, 2016: Ireland 40 d New Zealand 29, Soldier Field, Chicago, United States
November 19, 2016: New Zealand 21 d Ireland 9, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
November 17, 2018: Ireland 16 d New Zealand 9, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Previous World Cup 2019 matches:

New Zealand:
New Zealand 23 (Scott Barrett, George Bridge tries; Richie Mo’unga 2 cons, Mo’unga 2, Beauden Barrett pens) d South Africa 13 (Pieter-Steph du Toit try; Handre Pollard con, pen, drop goal). Referee: Jerome Garces.
New Zealand 63 (1 penalty try, Brad Weber 2, Scott Barrett, Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett, Shannon Frizell, Rieko Ioane, Sonny Bill Williams tries; Richie Mo’unga 8 cons) d Canada 0 at Oita Stadium. Referee: Romain Poite.
New Zealand 71 (Anton Lienert-Brown 2, Sevu Reece 2, Ben Smith 2, Jordie Barrett, Joe Moody, TJ Perenara, Angus Ta’avao, Sam Whitelock tries; Jordie Barrett 8 cons) d Namibia 9 (Damian Stevens 3 pens) at Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Referee: Pascal Gauzere.

Ireland:
Ireland 27 (Rory Best, Andrew Conway, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan tries; Conor Murray, Jonathan Sexton cons, Jack Carty pen) d Scotland 3 (Greig Laidlaw pen). Referee: Wayne Barnes.
Japan 19 (Kenki Fukuoka try; Yu Tamura con, 4 pens) d Ireland 12 (Rob Kearney, Garry Ringrose tries; Jack Carty con). Referee: Angus Gardner.
Ireland 35 (Andrew Conway, Rob Kearney, Peter O’Mahony, Garry Ringrose, Rhys Ruddock tries; Jonathan Sexton 3, Jack Carty 2 cons) d Russia 0 at Noevir Stadium. Referee: Jerome Garces.
Ireland 47 (Jonathan Sexton 2, Rory Best, Andrew Conway, Tadhg Furlong, Jordan Larmour, CJ Stander tries; Sexton 4, Joe Carbery 2 cons) d Samoa 5 (Jack Lam try). Referee: Nic Berry.

New Zealand v Ireland tips RWC2019

Ireland +12.5 points at $1.91

It’s not so long ago that Ireland were being touted as potential world champions, but for one reason or another most pundits have written them off now for Japan. We expect them to give this an almighty shake, though, and the 12.5 points start is pretty generous for a team as resilient and talented as this Irish one. These chances don’t come around often. We think the All Blacks will win but only narrowly, particularly if the forecast rain arrives on match-day.

Beauden Barrett man of the match

The All Blacks star is made for the big occasion. It will pay to shop around but you should be able to secure a price around the $8 mark for Barrett to get the nod. He is a class act.

New Zealand v Ireland prediction

It’s a real contrast of styles, especially the way Ireland have been playing of late. They have settled into a really defensive mindset, with lots of forward play grinding towards the line. That won’t cut it against the All Blacks, who showed their class against South Africa in their opening pool match by absorbing loads of pressure, before pouncing a couple of times when half chances came their way. That is the danger of playing the Blacks – they can hurt you in the blink of an eye with a try from anywhere on the field. Ireland will need to back themselves but they also can’t afford many mistakes. We thought this match-up might have come later in the tournament until Ireland’s shock loss to Japan. But it should be a great spectacle and we want to see it go down to the wire. Good punting.

Relevant news