New Zealand beat Ireland 40-21 at Eden Park in the Nations Championship, extending the All Blacks' unbeaten run at the venue to 53 matches and leaving head coach Andy Farrell concerned about a widening gap to the world's top sides. The result means Ireland have now lost their last six matches against New Zealand, France and South Africa by double-digit margins, continuing a troubling pattern since Johnny Sexton's retirement after the 2023 World Cup.

Ireland raced to bonus-point wins over Australia and Japan earlier in the Nations Championship despite set-piece and attacking flaws, but those same errors were ruthlessly exposed by the All Blacks. First-half mistakes, including a spilled ball by James Ryan and backs playing to different calls off a scrum, saw them trail 28-7 at half-time despite a Jack Conan try. Farrell described his side as "inaccurate", citing handling errors and lost continuity, while former scrum-half Conor Murray noted that New Zealand punish mistakes almost instantly in a way lesser teams do not.