And Smith fully expects the combination of O’Driscoll and centre partner Gordon D’Arcy to lead an Ireland resurgence from their disappointing outing against Samoa.

He said: “If you look at his contact skills, O'Driscoll is just as good as ever, he's got power and agility still. Brian O'Driscoll is probably the best midfielder in the world.

“They have got a world-class midfield in Gordon D'Arcy and O'Driscoll.

"I think Ireland just have to click. It's a fact of life that you can't always be at your best; our expectation is that they will be a lot better on Saturday.

“We had a look at their games. They will be disappointed with Samoa no doubt but they played pretty well against South Africa and could have pinched it.

“They have got a never-say-die attitude, that's what I like about them, so we expect they will be a lot better than they were against Samoa.”

Ireland though have never beaten the All Blacks in 23 attempts and on paper there seems little chance of that changing with Ireland’s win over Samoa bringing to an end a run of six straight defeats.

And Smith believes the All Blacks’ aura can act as a mental block on certain sides.

He added: “Teams sometimes get carried away when they play the All Blacks, I think that happened with Scotland last week.

“There was too much talk about us before the game. That's what potential victory against the All Blacks does, they start thinking 'if we win this we're going to be legends', rather than actually doing the business.”