New Zealand v Ireland: Brian O'Driscoll's team confident they can end dismal record against All Blacks In theory this is not a bad time to be playing the All Blacks, who have been in camp for just a week after a long Super 15 season and enjoyed no warm-up matches ahead of this clash. The 67,000-capacity Eden Park will also probably be less than two-thirds full, on the basis of ticket sales. New coach Steve Hansen has also wasted no time in introducing a couple of bright young talents - scrum-half Aaron Smith and wing Julian Savea - who could take a while to settle, but Ireland should not count on any World Cup hangover from their hosts. Playing for the shirt itself has always been motivation enough and they have not lost at Eden Park since 1994. Ireland, with captain Brian O'Driscoll restored to action, give debuts to wing Simon Zebo and prop Declan Fitzpatrick and will be concentrating on converting the excellent form of many team members during the Heineken Cup into a coherent Test performance. Ireland's defeat last time out at Twickenham against England was their worst performance in recent years. "We have a lot of faith in the ability of this squad," said hooker and vice-captain Rory Best. We have done all our homework on the All Blacks but need to get our stuff right. We are closing the gap and we want it closed. It is a strange one from an Irish point of view as they are the only top-tier team we haven't beaten. We see ourselves as a very good team. Much is being made in New Zealand of Ireland's impressive 15-6 win over Australia at Eden Park in the World Cup but Best is reading little into that superbly crafted triumph. That's nearly nine months ago. The only thing that has stayed the same is the venue and even that has changed a bit. There are lots of positives that we can take from that win but we're under no illusions that we have a completely different task ahead of us now. It was no great surprise that we won that game. It was thrown around like it was some massive upset but we went into that game very confident and knowing we could win it.