Full-back Hugo Keenan says Eire usually are not Friday’s Check with New Zealand in Dublin as a “revenge recreation”.
Eire’s opening autumn worldwide is the primary time the perimeters have met because the All Blacks knocked coach Andy Farrell’s facet out of the World Cup in 2023.
Keenan admits he’s “nonetheless hurting” from that quarter-final exit, however sufficient time has handed for a contemporary outlook.
“Plenty of issues have modified since then, by enjoying squads and training workers even,” mentioned Keenan, 28.
“It is a not a brand new cycle, however I do not suppose we’re it as a revenge recreation.”
The sport towards the All Blacks opens Eire’s autumn sequence earlier than fixtures with Argentina, Fiji and Australia in Dublin.
Leinster’s Keenan concedes their World Cup exit in Paris was a “vastly disappointing loss” however reiterated that going through New Zealand is sufficient to focus the thoughts.
“It is a recreation towards among the finest nations on the planet, traditionally the very best workforce on the planet,” he mentioned.
“We now have to view it as a contemporary sequence, again at residence and the thrill of enjoying 4 sensible sides.”