Rugby World Cup winner Conrad Smith revealed he looked up to former Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll when he first started his career.
Smith scored three tries in seven games against Ireland over an 11-year career with New Zealand, winning every match, but he said he enjoyed playing against Ireland and that he had fond memories of Croke Park.
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"I played against Brian O'Driscoll for many of those games," said Smith when asked about his memories of playing Ireland on the latest episode of The Hard Yards.
"When I first started he was someone that I looked up to and someone that I had a lot of respect for even when I was playing.
"Then when you mention Croke Park that was probably a highlight, and to be honest, all the games against the Irish were pretty special.
"We didn't tend to play them as much as the Welsh or the English, we seemed to play them on every end of year tour, the Irish not so much.
"I think that helps because it was always pretty special and they always had quality teams. It was a quality battle every time we ran out against them. A lot of fond memories of those games."
Smith also said that he was impressed with Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and Scotland's Huw Jones during the Six Nations and that the standard of play was quite high from the tournament's midfielders.
"He was someone I was really impressed with," added Smith of Ringrose.
"There's a lot of midfielders, I'm to forget the young Scottish boy as well, that was pretty impressive and then obviously seeing Bundee Aki playing is cool.
"I was impressed with the standard of play from all the teams - but particularly Ireland - they did simple things really well and that's what you need to do to win rugby games and they're doing it really well. It's good to watch."
