KEY POINTS:
There has been only one frustration for Conrad Smith this week. He was not ruffled by the circuitous travel plans to get to Dublin, just the fact that on the team's day off, he was banned from swinging a golf club on the course beside the All Blacks' hotel on the city outskirts.
Some slight groin problem drew a verboten call from the team's medical staff but the test centre quickly flipped into his glass half-full mentality as he shot through for his first look at the famous city. He had been here on the 2005 Grand Slam tour but with the side then based at the same venue, did not get a chance to get out and about much.
A week off against Scotland helped his health but the niggle is something he will have to manage for a few weeks until the end of the tour. It should recover fully with time off in New Zealand - he does not think there is any need for surgery.
"I don't really understand what it is but it is an injury that you can manage but after a hard day at training or a game it is pretty tight," he explained.
The medicos have given him the all-clear anyway and Smith will need to be at 100 per cent for what shapes as a tasty midfield contest with young tyro Luke Fitzgerald and the classy captain Brian O'Driscoll. With a fit and in-form Richard Kahui available, the staff must be certain Smith will be in tip-top condition.
"He [Kahui] is a class player so that is the beauty of being in the All Blacks, you face a lot of competition from guys you play against and guys within the team. It is tough, it puts a lot of pressure on you but it is a good thing and I have been in a similar position to what he is.
Smith acknowledged his close tussle with Kahui on this tour had left him a little "twitchy" but close competition for places was one of the strengths of the All Blacks system.
He felt better prepared for his second start on tour after the different lead-in to the test in Hong Kong where the All Blacks felt frustrated by the manner in which they played. Conditions were different for that game, there was no lack of passion or commitment but "in terms of execution I don't think either side would have been really happy with the way they played.
"It was a game that never got going," he said.
It had been a similar sentiment when the All Blacks hosted Ireland mid-year in Wellington in very tough conditions, something forecast again for this weekend at Croke Park.
Smith faced O'Driscoll in that match in his only other square off with the Irish skipper but neither backline got many chances. But Smith has done plenty of research on his opponent.
"I have always rated him, obviously he is a great player from what I have seen. I have played Stirling [Mortlock] a lot more times. The two of them are what I consider and most people consider to be the best centres around so just in terms of how long they have been doing it as well is pretty impressive."
O'Driscoll had a huge reputation and footage showed what he was capable of achieving. It could be daunting preparing for this sort of assignment but the reality was that it was not really an individual contest it was more about two teams squaring off.
"He has got everything. He is great at the tackle, great at the breakdown where he is the benchmark in terms of the way he competes. Obviously on attack he is fast and powerful and he is a great distributor and I think midfielders and centres particularly have got to have a range of skills like that," Smith added.
The 27-year-old said centre was a position which took time to learn. Experience was a huge factor and that showed as Tana Umaga learned his craft in that role and even closer to the scrum. Smith has been grafting those experiences into a 22-test career and will be hoping this weekend is not one for taking too many lessons.
