Considering that Roy Keane holds himself to the highest standards, it should come as no surprise that he chose to shadow one of world sport's most successful teams during his training for his coaching badges.
The Cork man travelled to New Zealand to spend a week inside the All Blacks camp back in 2008, at a time when they were actually preparing for a game against Ireland.
Speaking in an excellent interview in The Times, Keane revealed how that led a bit of an awkward conversation with some members of the Irish team.
While the All Blacks trusted Keane not to share the inside tactical information he had heard while sitting in on their team meetings, that didn't stop some members of the Irish team from attempting to get some information out of him.
After running into some of the squad in Wellington, he would go to dinner Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan and Ronan O’Gara in the buildup to the test. While he would not go into too much detail, he did warn the outhalf to be prepared for what was to come that weekend.
So Ronan is there. He wants to know about the All Blacks.
“How are you getting on with them Roy?”
“Brilliant. They’re good lads. Ye know ye are in for a tough game.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Go on.”
“Have they mentioned me?”
I swear he hasn’t had his main course yet! Do I lie?
“To be honest Ronan, they mentioned you on Monday morning at nine o clock”
“I fucking knew it! They’re fucking always going after me!”
It was brilliant. I went to the Test match on Saturday. The weather was atrocious. One of the worst games ever.
Keane clearly didn't part with too much critical information during the meal, with New Zealand going on to win the match on a 21-11 scoreline.
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