Ireland assistant coach John Plumtree can't yet say if world class backs Jonathan Sexton and Brian O'Driscoll will be fit to face the All Blacks after both skipped training.
New Zealander Plumtree is thankful for the long eight-day period to prepare for Sunday's Test in Dublin, which allows the British and Irish Lions pair of first five-eighth Sexton (hamstring) and centre O'Driscoll (calf) extra time to heal.
Both will only train once at the most, on Friday, after sitting out a cold session on Wednesday near their base on the outskirts of Dublin.
Earlier in the week O'Driscoll said he is desperate to face the All Blacks for a 14th and final time before retiring after next year's Six Nations championship.
It would mean he has appeared in half of Ireland's 28 Tests against New Zealand. They have failed to win any of the first 27.
Plumtree says the pair's chances of playing are difficult to gauge but he is more certain about fullback Rob Kearney, who trained well despite injuring his ribs in Saturday's heavy loss to Australia.
Former Wellington NPC coach Plumtree is assistant to another Kiwi at Ireland, head coach Joe Schmidt.
Plumtree ended a six-season stint with South African Super Rugby team the Sharks earlier this year.
His role with the Irish is forward coach and he predicted a considerable improvement on the effort up front against the Wallabies.
"The pack needs to front up big time," he said.
"As a pack New Zealand are the ultimate test. It doesn't get any tougher than this and we were irritated with our performance last week."
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