Super Rugby and international coaches have revealed the secrets behind the stunning resurgence of All Blacks loose forward Akira Ioane.
Just a couple of years ago, Ioane was dumped from the All Blacks, with his undoubted potential seemingly going to waste.
That's now a distant memory, after a barnstorming display in Sunday's 38-21 win over the Wallabies in Perth, with the stats revealing the extent of Ioane's dominance.
The improvement in Ioane's performances is down to some personal changes and coaching tweaks, but he is just happy to give dad Eddie a Father's Day present - all the way from Perth.
"He's pretty happy on the WhatsApp," Ioane says. "He's giving it the 'che-hoos' and all that sort of stuff."
The blindside flanker ran 88 metres, beat nine defenders, made three clean breaks and 10 tackles - as well as assisting in tries for Will Jordan and Anton Lienert-Brown.
"Just right place at the right time, just lucky I guess," he adds, but it's more than just luck - it's been a couple of years of sheer hard work.
In 2019, Ioane was dropped from the All Blacks due to fitness issues, struggling to start for the Blues and with his rugby future up in the air.
"It's been a long journey [and a] hard one as well.
"To reap the rewards now and going forward, I'm just happy with how I'm playing and how the team is going, so I'm just happy in general."
Those within the Blues and All Blacks believe the increase in fitness and maturity have been massive reasons for Ioane's improvement - and a shift to blindside flanker.
"He's probably used to being told what he does wrong and I think he's really responding to what he can do right, and just seen a bit of a bounce in his step with that approach," All Blacks coach Ian Foster says.
Ioane, 26, has pushed himself, Blues assistant coach Tom Coventry says.
"We were just looking for Aki to get through more work and over the last 18 months, he's just worked really hard on his aerobic conditioning," Coventry tells Newshub.
"That gets measured by the bronco and we asked him to meet a higher standard in the test, which he's done."
High standards are now allowing Akira Ioane to make the black jersey his own - one heck of a Father's Day gift.
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