@mariner4life Lots of good stuff in your recent sequence of posts.
I'd done the same analysis of the team the played Ireland in the three tests last time vs the team this time, and we're significantly better - especially on the bench, and especially if Lomax and de Groot play. But - also in the coaches' box!!! I hope Schmidt is bringing lots of insights.
It will be bloody handy if Lomax is fit and firing - but, I've got a nasty feeling he won't quite be. At best, we might see him and de Groot off the bench. Otherwise we're going to be weak at tighthead - starting and bench.
Interestingly, in the first test in that home series, we dominated their scrum - and watching the Jaapies take apart their lineout, gives me plenty to hope on. But, they are fucking well organized and play some beautiful patterns - so it's going to be a massive test for our midfield (and outside backs) - if we pass that defensive test it will go a long way towards winning. If they cut us up, we're fucked.
But, as @Duluth says, we have firepower to hurt them and by lots and quickly.
It's also worth looking a bit at the results in their win streak - a few close-ish calls on the scoreboard vs the Jaapies, Australia, Samoa - and even Italy. Haven't watched many of those games, but they're definitely not invincible. We tend to focus too much on ourselves.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ireland+vs+all+blacks&rlz=1C1CHZL_enNZ842NZ845&oq=irel&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCwgAEEUYJxg7GIoFMgsIABBFGCcYOxiKBTIGCAEQRRhAMgYIAhBFGDkyDQgDEC4YgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgEEC4YgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgFEAAYgwEYsQMYigUyDQgGEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgHEAAYgwEYsQMYgATSAQk1NjAzajBqMTWoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#sie=t;/m/03t3zk;8;/m/06brs;mt;fp;1;;;
I've got no idea what will happen in this match - I can see it being tight as fuck, or I can see either team winning comfortably - but I've kind of got a hunch that it might be a case of who dares wins.
If we're prepared to throw caution to the wind in terms of the physicality that we bring - and back ourselves to do it without conceding cards, then that might well be the path to victory. In our hey-day, we'd regularly produce those sort of performances, most memorably vs Australia - particularly when we'd lost the first Bledisloe test - and just blow them off the park.