Forwards coach Paul O’Connell has challenged Ireland to find the consistency that once made them the best team in the world, as Andy Farrell’s side prepare for a heavyweight showdown with the All Blacks in Chicago.

Ireland have slipped from their 2022-2023 peak – a golden stretch when they sat atop the world rankings and beat every major nation in sight – and O’Connell admitted that their recent campaigns have lacked the same relentless edge.

“We were probably a little bit inconsistent,” said the former Ireland captain.

“We had a really good start to the Six Nations. That English game was a really tough game; we weathered the storm and came back. That’s a good English team, and we came back and beat them well. Same against Scotland – we played really well.

“After that, we were probably a little bit inconsistent. In the Welsh game, there were some really good bits of play. We had a really good start against France, and then we were a bit inconsistent after that.”

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The Ireland forwards coach said that the lack of week-to-week precision was frustrating for both players and staff – especially when compared to the team’s ruthless standards during their dominant run under Farrell.

“That was probably a hallmark of that good period of form; there was a real consistency to how we played and how we delivered our game,” he added. “And that’s the challenge for us as players, as the squad evolves bit by bit – to get back to that.”

Ireland will be looking to captain Caelan Doris to restore some of that spark. He returns from injury for the clash at Soldier Field. O’Connell confirmed that the influential No 8 has come through his rehabilitation smoothly and is fully fit for selection.

“He’s been through a very good return-to-play period now, and he’s had a good few weeks with very little minding of him or anything like that,” O’Connell said. “There’s one train of thought that says you start a guy like that, because he could come on after a minute anyway, and then there’s another train of thought that says you bring him off the bench.

“We’ll see. But he’s fine. He’s trained really well, he feels really good, he’s shown no ill effects whatsoever.”

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The All Blacks showdown marks Ireland’s first clash with New Zealand since the epic 2023 World Cup quarter-final.

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