Rivals.

The All Blacks might not pay too much attention to England and club rugby in the northern hemisphere according to Chris Ashton, but that’s certainly not the case when it comes to Ireland.

Joe Schmidt’s men are currently breathing down the All Blacks’ necks when it comes to the World Rugby Rankings, and face each other in one of the most anticipated Test matches in recent memory on November 17.

Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek, who’s a New Zealander himself, says he’s bee getting asked a lot of questions about Ireland back home lately, with the world’s best keen to know more about closest rivals.

“10 or 15 years ago Ireland were always the sort of team that could beat somebody big – do you know what I mean? – they always had the potential but now that potential has come through and it’s a ‘watch out’ type of thing,” says Feek.

‘There’s definitely a massive shift even to the point where I get asked… like 10 or 15 years ago, they wouldn’t have known too many Irish players.

“Now, if I’m there [in New Zealand], they’re constantly asking me, ‘What’s he like?’ or ‘What does he lift?’ or ‘What does he do?’

“People are asking what’s this ‘player management programme,’ why is that so good or why is this so good? How do you manage this?

“It’s not just the threat of winning; guys want to come into [Ireland’s] camp and watch and learn.

“I think that’s maybe the biggest change as well; they’re learning off what we’re doing.”