Joe Schmidt has experience coaching against the All Blacks, as Ireland's head coach from 2013-2019, but has never done so in New Zealand as he prepares to do so with Australia.
As he prepares to break fresh ground at Wellington's Sky Stadium on Saturday, the Wallabies' third Kiwi-born coach says he's been embraced by locals.
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"Lots of people saying 'good luck'," Schmidt said of his reception back home.
"Walking down the street the other day, a couple of different people just stopped me and wished the Wallabies luck."
."..I would like to think it's New Zealanders being polite," Schmidt said of his reception in New Zealand, before seeming to forget he was now coaching the enemy.
"I'm a polite New Zealander and I'm wishing the Wallabies luck ... funnily enough," he said, catching himself.
The Wallabies have the chance to break a two decade drought in New Zealand, last tasting victory in 2001.
Scrumhalf Jake Gordon is energised by the opportunity to create history after missing the three-point defeat in Sydney.
"It has to be motivating," Gordon said.
"We're not thrilled with where we're at. We are a new group with plenty of debutants this year and we've found that we've made some improvements in our game, but definitely not where we want to be at the moment."
Schmidt has opted for a youthful approach, backing Isaac Kailea in place of record-breaker James Slipper to make an impact off the bench.
“We just felt it was an opportunity for Isaac Kailea, he gives us a little more ballast at scrum time and he’s a different player to Slips in terms of his ball carry and play covering from number eight," he added.
“He’s really improved his scrummaging. (Scrum coach) Mike Cron is impressed with the way he’s really applied himself at scrum time.”
