Ireland have confirmed captain and first five Johnny Sexton will start the must-win second test against the All Blacks on Saturday

It became plainly obvious even soon after fulltime last Saturday that despite Sexton's departure after half an hour with a head knock, Ireland were determined to see him out there for the second match assuming he passed his third HIA.

He'll start at 10, with Ireland still unwilling to hand the reins of the side to Joey Carbery unless they really have to - he started against France in this year's Six Nations but has otherwise almost exclusively had to wait for easybeats to roll around to get the nod in his 33 tests.

There's one change to the run-on side, with Mack Hansen on the wing after recovering from Covid replacing Keith Earls.

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