Andy Farrell says he and his players are under no illusion about the backlash coming their way in Saturday's Test series decider against the All Blacks in Wellington.
The Ireland head coach this morning named his side for Saturday's third Test, with Bundee Aki the only new face following last week's maiden victory away to New Zealand.
While it was a first ever win on New Zealand soil for Ireland, it was the fourth victory in seven meetings against the two-time world champions, having previously taken 29 attempts to beat the heavyweights of the game.
New Zealand's intentions are clear this week, with head coach Ian Foster taking no chances on his team selection, making four changes as Sam Whitelock, Nepo Laulala, David Havilii and Will Jordan all return, while Dane Coles brings further experience to the bench.
And after all three previous Irish wins against the All Blacks were followed by humbling defeats, the Ireland coach says they know exactly what to expect at Sky Stadium this Saturday.
"We've all talked about playing against the All Blacks when their backs were against the wall, and they've come off a loss," Farrell told RTÉ Sport.
"We know what the history says about all that, but that's exactly where we want to be. We know they will be hurting, we know they bounce back unbelievably strong. We've played them enough times to realise what's coming.
"But to have them in the last game before we break for another season, when we expect them to be fired up, really wanting to prove a point to us and themselves, it couldn't be any better to be able to deal with those types of situations is exactly where we want to be."
With several inexperienced players logging good gametime in the midweek tour matches against the Maori All Blacks, it has allowed Farrell the opportunity to select his strongest possible side for the Tests.
The starting pack has been unchanged across all three games in the All Blacks series, while Farrell will have selected from just 17 players to start across the three big games, Mack Hansen and Aki the only two new faces from the first game in Auckland.
However, the head coach has been keen to stress the influence the wider party has had on the tour, even outside of the playing group.
"Selection has been difficult enough because people are always challenging within the group. That's always good, but also challenging in the right manner.
"They have a plan, but it's up to us to make sure we bring a bit of chaos to that plan. We've got to make sure that we put a bit of doubt in the All Blacks' minds as the game goes, like every other game, because of our intentions and our accuracy in what we do."
"The meeting this morning was all about making sure we're all on the same page and pushing in the right direction.
"There's a good few of us, there's nearly 70 of us on tour, everyone pushing in the right direction over the next couple of days will be a hell of a force with us.
"Everyone is right on point which is great news."
While Ireland were deserving winners in last week's second Test, there's plenty of scope for improvement, with the tourists incredibly wasteful in the second quarter of the game, where they failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and territorial dominance.
And Farrell (above) says they have to make sure they've saved their biggest performance for last.
"Everyone realises the size of the task at hand, but there's a lot of excitement in being able to deal with that. I think the best part of where we're at is that we know we can do better. I think what we've done pretty well over the last period of time is to have a clear understanding of what our game is all about and what we need to do to get better, and it becomes more clear and obvious the more we push on together.
"We had a decent result in the last Test, hopefully our best is saved till last.
"We'll see whether there is that much improvement that's needed. Like I keep saying, we're in control as well as them.
"They have a plan, but it's up to us to make sure we bring a bit of chaos to that plan. We've got to make sure that we put a bit of doubt in the All Blacks' minds as the game goes, like every other game, because of our intentions and our accuracy in what we do.
"That's what we need to get over the line first and foremost, but it really doesn't get any better for us," he said.
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