American payday makes for tough start to hectic month

It may be the longest gap since the turn of the century since Ireland and New Zealand got together on a rugby field, but the reference point for this fixture feels so close at hand: Aviva Stadium, November 2013. Perhaps the most analysed couple of minutes in the history of our international side - or, as Eddie Butler described it in his TV commentary when it was all over: "One of the most pulsating games of rugby we'll ever have the privilege of watching."