Ireland being two point favourites against the All Blacks in a Rugby World Cup knockout game would have been inconceivable as recently as the mid-2010s.
If anything, the odds slightly favour New Zealand given Ireland's brutal win over the Springboks and their handy demolition of the Scots.
The rivalry between the sides has been brewing since 2016, and Saturday's quarter-final meeting feels like a culmination of seven years of hard fought test matches, featuring vicious hits, ecstatic wins, and damning losses.
The Ireland - New Zealand Rivalry
Speaking exclusively with Balls.ie, New Zealand rugby journalist Jamie Wall has provided us with a view from Down Under, and one which very much subscribes to the belief that there is strong needle between the teams.
"I think there's bad blood between these teams," said Wall.
I've been around this rivalry enough, because of course this rivalry is only what, seven years old.
There's been plenty of time for the trash talk to start flying on either side and, there's been plenty of grievances.
I mean, to be fair, you could probably pull it all the way back to 2005 with the O'Driscoll, incident there.
And that's when I felt like Irish rugby fans started getting a bit chippy about the All Blacks and about New Zealanders and, there was a bit of stuff going back and forth against each other.
It wasn't something that New Zealanders were particularly worried about too much considering that the results only ever went one way.
But ever since Chicago it's sort of been like, oh, ok.
16 July 2022; James Lowe of Ireland celebrates his side's first try, scored by teammate Josh van der Flier, not pictured, during the Steinlager Series match between the New Zealand and Ireland at Sky Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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While the game in Chicago - Ireland's first ever win over the All Blacks - will forever be lauded as one of the most memorable in Ireland's history, the clash in the Aviva two weeks later, was hugely significant in its own right.
It was as physical as they come, with hits that would have been carded in today's game, including the near decapitation of Simon Zebo by Malakai Fekitoa.
Most importantly, it was a clear indication that Ireland were finally respected by the All Blacks.
"I go back to that 2016 match the match after the Chicago one, the one in Dublin, which is kind of gone down as being a really dirty match," explained Wall.
You had the Sam Cane incident with Robbie Henshaw, the stuff that just wouldn't get past a TMO these days, and I think that's where the fuse was really lit in a way.
And ever since then I think the level of physicality in the games has really stepped up, and to me at the time I thought 'oh, great.'
The all blacks have proven their point. They've gone and they've made Ireland know that they're really angry and they've beaten them into submission.
But what I think it really did was, it kind of showed to everyone that the All Blacks are taking you really seriously.
Now, you're right up there with the Springboks and with England, and it was almost giving them a bit of gratitude to have raised their level up to that.
And so it showed that the Irish need to match fire with fire and that's why we're seeing such a massively physical game.
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The recent games played between the two sides has also seen a rise in the smack talk - a key ingredient in a healthily bitter rivalry - most notably when Peter O'Mahony called New Zealand captain Sam Cane a 'shit Richie McCaw', during last year's summer series.
This kind of behaviour from Ireland would have come across as dumb and petulant years back, but Wall believes they have 'earned the right' to act this way.
"So, and I think that's why you've got a lot of the trash talk coming out. Like don't get me wrong, I love trash talk, especially when you're winning if you've earned the right. He [Peter O'Mahony] had every right to call him a 'shit Richie McCaw'. I mean, it's kind of true."
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