Former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt was involved in a rather excruciating snub in the All Blacks' coaching box following the win over Argentina on Saturday.
Kiwi Schmidt, who was a key figure in Irish rugby between 2013 and 2019 in leading roles at Leinster and with the men's national side, is now on New Zealand's coaching ticket. He was initially brought into the fold as a selector but was promoted to attack coach in August amid the heightening pressure on head coach Ian Foster.
Also new in the fold is Jason Ryan, who came on board as forwards coach at the end of July.
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Things were a little rosier for New Zealand at the weekend as they thrashed Argentina 53-3 one week after losing to them on home soil for the first time, but things looked a little clunky in the coaching box.
In the dying moments of the match, the coaches began congratulating each other and Ryan offered a handshake to scrum doctor Greg Feek before leaving Schmidt, who was stood right next to Feek with his hand outstretched, hanging. The pair even brushed hands, such was their proximity and Schmidt opted for an awkward tap on the back after the apparent snub, which was still not enough to eek out a handshake.
Even Schmidt's former Leinster and Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll, a huge proponent of Schmidt over the years, couldn't help but laugh at the teenage-like drama of it all, posting an image of the incident on social media alongside the caption "burn, baby, burn".
Speaking afterwards, though, Ryan was adamant that it was an honest mistake.
“I didn’t realise Joe was there,” he insisted. “He missed me twice this morning, actually, in the coaches’ meeting, on purpose. All good with Joe, and I just didn’t see him in my sight there."
Last weekend saw Schmidt take more of a hands-on role with the team, having not made the trip to South Africa for the opening rounds of the Rugby Championship, with Schmidt taking over from Foster looking after the attacking game-plan while Ryan was handed the additional selector's brief, it is reported. Stunned by Los Pumas last weekend, the All Blacks bounced back with their best performance of the year, with a Schmidt stamp on proceedings being evident via fewer offloads than usual.
