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Cape Town - Ireland must use every scoring opportunity they get if they want any chance of beating the All Blacks, says Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.
Ireland face New Zealand in Chicago on Saturday in the first of two Tests against the world No 1 team this month.
The All Blacks have won their last 18 Tests on the trot and have never lost to Ireland.
They will head into the clash as firm favourites, but former Springbok Erasmus has given Ireland some advice as they attempt to slay the mighty Kiwis.
"The moment you are out of the match against them they punish you. Take your opportunities," Erasmus told www.the42.ie.
"You don’t get 15 or 16 opportunities which you get against other international sides maybe to score points: you only get four or five. I think if you take those you are in the mix. We came within two points at the World Cup last year. After the first game losing to Japan and then we lost by two points, but we came really close.
"The thing about them in my opinion is apart from having great structures and their fundamentals of their kicking game and all these things, when the big moment is there they just take it every time. I guess if you want to match that, when your few big moments come in the game… in a Test match against New Zealand you never get more than four or five opportunities, it’s either three or five points that you must take.
"They defend so well they put so much pressure on you, but I think the big-name players and the big-moment players, they will get the four or five opportunities and if you get points from that you are in with a chance."
Erasmus earlier this year left his post as SA Rugby's general manager of high performance to join the Irish club. He signed a three-year deal, which commenced on July 1.
The 43-year-old played 36 Tests for the Springboks between 1997 and 2001.
