Ireland's win over New Zealand last year still haunts the All Blacks, as they look to right those wrongs in the first test at Eden Park on Saturday.
The tourists have won the last three out of five fixtures between the two sides, including the 29-20 upset in November, 2021.
All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith admits the loss still weighs heavy on the mind, but the tem are eager to rectify that result, as Ireland chase their first win on New Zealand soil.
"There's obviously still scar-tissue, you'd be silly not to think about last year," he said. "But that was eight or nine months ago.
"This group have been really excited looking at the footage, reviewing that game and learnings from the France game as well.
"There's a lot of hungry people on the bus ready to put their foot forward. But it's not been mentioned much, just more around our skill sets and how we want to improve as an All Blacks team this year.
"That's been a real focus for us. A lot of learnings from the backend of last year, there was still a lot of good last year. Playing those teams over there in their home stadiums is very tough and at the backend of a long tour for the lads.
"We're jumping out of our skin to run out at Eden Park."
The All Blacks have been ravaged by COVID-19 in the build-up to the series opener in Auckland, with head coach Ian Foster and three of his assistants testing positive, as well as players David Havili, Jack Goodhue and Will Jordan.
But Smith believes it only serves as extra motivation, as they come up against a side desperate to break their hoodoo and record an historic win.
"It's very exciting. It doesn't get much bigger than Ireland coming. Definitely in the last five, six years, the rivalry has definitely grown," he added.
"Every test match is hard but it's going to be really nice to play Ireland at home. We're ready to go, we're really excited, it's been a great week and the last couple weeks of us binding, going from Kerikeri to Auckland. It doesn't get much bigger than Eden Park tests.
"All year playing Super Rugby, you dream of what's in the calendar, imagine being there and luckily enough get to do it this weekend. That's what we've been talking about as leaders, how exciting of an opportunity to play a great team and play them at Eden Park."
All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett echoed Smith's comments, and believes they're a much better team than the one he made his test debut against 10 years ago.
"We've been over to Dublin a few times since then. They're a quality side, they're well-coached, they have been for a number of years," he said.
"Under Johnny Sexton, he knows how to run the kind of game they want to play and it's built off the back of a really good set-piece and a breakdown that they pride themselves on.
"We've seen the game evolve a fair bit since then, when I debued 10 years ago and I think we've seen the team grow significantly.
"They're a quality team, and we felt that last year in Dublin, the intensity of that test match was why they were right up there."
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