When it comes to facing his native New Zealand as Wales coach, Wayne Pivac hasn't had too much luck.
The proposed first meeting, a summer tour in 2020, was called off due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Last year's autumn opener was played outside of the Test window, leaving Pivac without his English-based stars.
This year's clash against the All Blacks is inside the window, but unfortunately for Pivac, he's got more than a few injury headaches on the go right now.
The latest injury blow is Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake, who departed early with a shoulder injury in their defeat to the Dragons on Sunday. Toby Booth said afterwards that it "doesn't look great", adding that it was likely an AC joint issue.
How serious that is remains to be seen, but it certainly seems like Lake is a significant doubt for the autumn. Wales' squad meet up today, with players set to be assessed before any decisions are made on possible call-ups.
Were Lake to be ruled out of the autumn, then Dragons hooker Bradley Roberts seems the logical replacement. Unfortunate to miss out on the original squad, the former Ulster man once again demonstrated his punchy carrying game at Rodney Parade on Sunday.
Some critics online might point to his relatively small stature, but as Test players will tell you, it's power that counts, not size. Clearly, Roberts is capable of forcing his way through stubborn opponents so it would make sense for him to be the next cab off the rank.
Where things get a little murkier is Wales' other injuries. Nothing seems quite as cut and dry as Lake's was made out to be, with the back-three ranks all seemingly suffering from some sort of knock or another.
Josh Adams is a doubt for New Zealand with a chipped bone in his thumb set to keep him out for two-to-four weeks. Alex Cuthbert is also set to be touch-and-go for that clash with the All Blacks.
The Ospreys winger hasn't played since getting injured during the second Test against South Africa in July. Speaking at the end of last month, his club coach Booth cast doubt on his involvement - calling the start of this month a "critical" couple of weeks.
He confirmed on Friday that, as he wasn't in contention to play for the Ospreys against the Dragons, he had been released early to Wales camp. Booth also admitted that he wasn't expecting players to be released for the Connacht match in order to provide minutes ahead of the All Blacks fixture - despite Cuthbert's lack of action since the summer.
Elsewhere in the back-three, Leigh Halfpenny pulled out of the Scarlets' clash with Connacht due to a tight hamstring, while George North, who has been preferred at centre under Pivac in recent years, limped off against the Dragons after taking a bump to the knee.
There's no indication that either is a serious doubt to miss the All Blacks, unlike Adams and Cuthbert, but, with Louis Rees-Zammit not set to link up with Wales camp just yet due to being English-based, Rio Dyer is suddenly the only fully fit back-three player in camp at the start of this week.
Even if permanent call-ups might be unlikely at this stage, with North and Halfpenny likely to recover before New Zealand and Adams and Cuthbert in contention to play some part in the autumn, it's hard to envisage a training week where there might only be one fit back-three player, three centres and, with Gareth Anscombe's injury situation still unknown, two fit fly-halves.
So it's feasible that Pivac could look to invite players into training to camp, as he has done on previous occasions. New call-ups Dyer and Sam Costelow have previously trained with the squad before being included properly this time around and, with numbers a little low, that could be a temptation.
The question then would be who? Given there's one more round of fixtures in this current URC block, none of the four professional sides are understandably going to want to lose any players.
However, if you're looking at back-three cover from amongst the four sides right now, Ryan Conbeer would be the likely next port of call. Alongside Dyer, the Scarlets winger was brought into the camp to train with Pivac's side in the summer so he would be familiar with the environment. Keelan Giles would be another worth considering, given his form for the Ospreys, although his fitness is unclear after the derby.
More back-three reinforcements could yet be needed, particularly with Rhys Priestland more likely to focus on fly-half than full-back after his stunning display for Cardiff and Anscombe's rib problem. However, full-backs are at something of a premium in Wales right now.
Johnny McNicholl can cover both wing and full-back and would be another sensible choice, although it's possible that shares have been sold in him after the defeat to Italy earlier this year. Dan Biggar warned post-match that some might not pull on the jersey again and McNicholl's not featured since.
Pivac might muddle through this week without any players invited into camp, particularly if North and Halfpenny are ready to go early in the week. The only other injury worry lies in the forwards, but it doesn't seem the sort that will result in Pivac picking up the phone.
The calf injury that kept Taulupe Faletau out of Cardiff's win over the Stormers on the weekend was described as precautionary by Dai Young on the weekend. It seems unlikely at this stage that Wales would consider calling anyone up.
While there is no out-and-out No. 8 cover in the squad, back-rows like Josh MacLeod are players that Pivac wants to look at in different positions. The form of Ross Moriarty and Aaron Wainwright will give him food for thought though if a call-up does cross his mind.
These injuries, while many might not affect the All Blacks match in terms of selection, could certainly make the first week of preparation very interesting for Pivac.
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