Ireland vs New Zealand: Former skipper Peter O’Mahony ‘ready to go’ for Friday night’s match

While Friday is Ireland’s first match since July, New Zealand arrive in Dublin on Saturday buoyed by a thrilling 24-22 victory over England, with victory only sealed when George Ford’s final drop-goal attempt for the hosts went wide.

“That was a test match, wasn’t it?” added Goodman, who has replaced Mike Catt on the Ireland coaching ticket this season.

“Nice margins and I think New Zealand showed how dangerous they can be with turnovers, counter-attacking rugby with some of the tries they scored there, the chances they created.”

The win came at a cost to All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson, with fly-half Beauden Barrett and hooker Codie Taylor both ruled out against Ireland with head injuries sustained during the match.

Barrett’s absence is likely to mean a return to the No 10 jersey for Damian McKenzie, who started there during the Rugby Championship this summer, while Asafo Aumua came off the bench as a hooker against England for 75 minutes.

“They have good cover there, obviously with McKenzie, who has played with 10 for them for most of the season and then with Will Jordan at full-back,” Goodman said.

Asafo Aumua, who came in, played some pretty big minutes there and is a powerful runner. We know what he can do.

“So they have a lot of depth there at all positions, so I’m sure they’ll back those guys to do their job.”