Ahead of Ireland's World Cup quarter-final clash with the All Blacks this weekend, Joe Schmidt has been in touch with some of his fellow New Zealanders.
As he announced the starting XV who will look to push Ireland beyond the quarter-final stage of the tournament for the first time, head coach Joe Schmidt admitted that a game against the All Blacks had come a little bit earlier than he would have liked.
Helpfully, it appears that the same can be said of his direct counterpart on Saturday.
"I exchanged a few texts last Saturday," admitted Schmidt of his contact with the New Zealand coaching team, "and ya, we're all looking forward to catching up.
"Then we'll both sit nervously in coaching boxes and hope our teams can get the result on the day."
Probed on the exact nature of those text messages, Schmidt refused to divulge too much information, however.
"Really, we were just wishing each other luck," he said with a laugh, "and, also, [we're] not that happy that we're seeing each other this early.
"But, you know, it is one of those things and, as I say, it is hard for anyone not to have respect for what the All Blacks have achieved.
"I think Steve [Hansen] and Fozzy (Ian Foster) have been at the forefront of that and done an incredible job.
"As a coach, coming from New Zealand, seeing those guys at the top of the tree it is pretty awesome to be coaching against them."
Boasting an impressive record against the All Blacks in his time as Ireland's head coach, Joe Schmidt reflected on trying to outmanoeuvre the three-in-a-row chasing team.
"They're good guys to have a drink with afterwards," he admitted. "I don't really enjoy the rivalry because it is difficult, a bit of double jeopardy to be honest.
"They're smart coaches and you're trying to think about what they're going to bring, how they're going to try to manipulate us.
"At the same time, you're trying to devise strategies based on what you've seen of them, and knowing them personally, how you think you can manipulate them.
"In the end, that's only a small part of it. I'll enjoy catching up with them on Saturday."
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