Wayne Smith has been on the telephone to New Zealand coaches Ian Foster and Shane Howarth seeking advice over Warren Gatland's trademark rush defence which will be a key to Wales' chances against the All Blacks.
Smith, a stickler for detail, is determined to get every bit of information available to him ahead of this third leg of the Grand Slam attempt that will unfold at the massive Millennium Stadium on Sunday (NZ time).
That means plenty of video analysis on Wales' recent matches but also some first hand knowledge from those who have successfully worked with and against Gatland in recent times.
These include current All Blacks Stephen Donald, Richard Kahui and Sitiveni Sivivatu who were part of Gatland's successful Waikato teams before he took up his Welsh appointment last year.
They also include Foster who had Gatland alongside him at the Chiefs and Howarth, who Smith feels managed to counter the defensive systems, particularly when Auckland were at the peak of their powers last year in their undefeated run to the national title.
The All Blacks haven't always coped well with rush defence as the Springboks have shown with their successful in-your-face approach, stifling the much-vaunted New Zealand attack.
"We always managed to get a lot of line breaks against the Boks but we never managed to finish them off ... they had a good scrambling defence in behind," said Smith. "We have never really been that successful against it.
"So we have put a lot of work in this week. It's good having players like Stephen Donald and Richard Kahui who have played under Gats and played that system so you get a feel for what might work. But you have to execute that against what's a pressing sort of D."
Smith felt the phone calls back to New Zealand to chat with Foster and Howarth were worthwhile.
"Yeah, they were very good. As with everything you try to get as much information as you can get I talked to Fossie in terms of what stresses him when he is coaching that defence and I talked to Howie about how you stress it, how you attack it.
"Wales are slightly different to Waikato ... I'm just trying to get as much high quality information as I can."
But it's not just the Welsh defence that is causing a bit of extra homework for the All Blacks coaches at the moment.
The also see Wales as offering arguably the best attacking game in Europe right now. Match that against an attack-orientated New Zealand side and this test has plenty of appeal about it as a spectacle.
The All Blacks just want to make sure they come out at the right end of it.
"The key is to always try and gain the initiative and wrest it from them," Smith said of the attacking battle.
"They play with a lot of width, they take quick taps, they like to give the game a lot of tempo. So the key is to try to stop that but also to throw that sort of stuff at them as well.
"It should be a fast game. From everything we have seen they certainly have some good variations.
"Their forwards offload more than any other team in Europe. They offload as a team probably more than any team in the world ... so there are some challenges there for us."
Throw in the passion of a Welsh side trying to create their own history and secure a first win against the All Blacks since 1953, and there is plenty for the New Zealand camp to ponder.
But Smith is quietly confident the All Blacks are building form as they march on with this tour. Comfortable wins over Scotland and Ireland and a consistent selection policy for this Wales test has them nicely poised.
That selection has taken a bit of a rattle over the past 24 hours.
The All Blacks were delighted to see their senior prop Tony Woodcock cleared of his punching charge. On his late arrival intgo Cardiff via the IRB judiciary in Dublin, Woodcock got a standing ovation from his team mates.
"That shows the value with which he is held in this squad," said Smith.
But the All Blacks were then rocked by the loss of reserve hooker Corey Flynn who, after complaining of a sore left arm following the midweek win over Munster, had an x-ray in Cardiff that confirmed the worst - his fourth broken arm in the last seven years.
Smith said there was plenty of confidence in Hikawera Elliot who steps up to the test bench for the first time.
Elliot debuted in the final quarter against Munster and made a couple of crucial lineout throws as the All Blacks overcame some enormous pressure down the stretch to eventually seal a last-gasp win.
The other question mark was over tighthead prop Neemia Tialata who has been battling a touch of flu.
But he trained well in Cardiff in the last major session of the week where the All Blacks pack put plenty of emphasis on their scrum work.
Tialata was confirmed to start the test with Johan Afoa on the bench.
New Zealand v Wales
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sky Sport: 6.15am Sunday
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
TAB odds: New Zealand $1.07, Wales $7.50
NEW ZEALAND: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.
WALES: Lee Byrne, Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper; Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones (captain), Ian Evans, Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Jones, Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins. Reserves: Richard Hibbard, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Dwayne Peel, James Hook/Dan Biggar, Andrew Bishop.
Played: 23; New Zealand won 20; Wales won 3, drawn 0
Points scored: New Zealand 693; Wales 216
First test: Wales 3 New Zealand 0 at Cardiff, Dec 16 1905
Latest test: New Zealand 45 Wales 10 at Cardiff, Nov 25, 2006
New Zealand's biggest winning margin: 52 - New Zealand 55 Wales 3 at Hamilton, June 21, 2006.
Wales biggest winning margin: 5 - Wales 13 New Zealand 8 at Cardiff, Dec 19 1953
New Zealand's winning sequence: 19 tests - Dec 21 1963 to present day
