Rugby caused a brief stir on the American sports landscape late last year when Ireland beat New Zealand, 40-29, at Soldier Field in Chicago. It was the first time ever that the Ireland Men's National Rugby Team had beaten its counterpart from New Zealand in the 111 years (at the time) since the two sides started playing each other. The near-always world's best All Blacks were rocked by a first-half scoring blitz that saw the Irish take a 25-8 lead into half-time. And they made it 30-8 early in the second half, but the New Zealanders battled back to within four points to set up a tense closing 15 minutes of the match.
Two veteran rugby internationals discuss what this summer’s Ireland-USA match at Red Bull Arena means to their respective teams.
