Ireland quietly confident their 103-year All-Black drought may soon be over

Ireland have never beaten the All Blacks in 20 attempts despite coming close, most notably in 1992 and in 2006. The latter of those games came after Munster claimed their first Heineken Cup.

Munster reclaimed the continental crown last month and have a strong presence in the Ireland XV with seven of the eight forwards playing for the Limerick-based province.

Confident: Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll is hopeful his side can finally beat the All-Blacks

Just two of Ireland's starting XV have missed out on silverware this season, Ulster duo Tommy Bowe and Paddy Wallace, who is named in place of the injured Luke Fitzgerald.

With New Zealand in a post-World Cup transitional period, almost half the squad who travelled to France last year are either retired, discarded or playing in the northern hemisphere and therefore not considered, there is every reason for the Irish team to be buoyant.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll said: "We feel if we get our game right we have as good a chance as ever.

"We genuinely felt we had a good chance last time round as well and capitulated a little after 60 minutes, particularly in the first Test.

"We feel as though we certainly have the firepower and the capabilities, it's just a matter of making sure we put out an 80 or 90 minute performance. Whatever it takes."

The Irish have played down the loss of Fitzgerald, who has failed to overcome an ankle problem, which has yet again robbed fans of the chance to see the exciting youngster lining up alongside his captain. The pair had been due to combine in the midfield against the Barbarians before tragic circumstances intervened.

But O'Driscoll, who missed the Barbarians match due to the death of a close friend, is confident the introduction of Wallace, who played at fly-half against the Baa-Baas, will not hinder Ireland.

In fact, the captain believes Wallace's versatility may give them an edge where the pair is expected to mix up their play rather than stick to traditional 12 and 13 roles.

O'Driscoll added: "We have been mixing and matching.

"Paddy is a great footballer he's a great versatility to him. He can play 10, 12, 13 and full-back if needed.

"Being a footballer is being a footballer. Often it can just be a number on your back that you start off with, but you find yourself in various different positions around the phases. So I would think that's the way we'll be playing.

"The one thing is that Paddy is a great passer, a great guy at putting others into holes and hopefully he'll show some of the form that he did in the Baa-Baas game last week."