Kahui taken by surprise
Gearing up: Kahui enjoys the early benefits of being in the All Black squad
Richard Kahui has admitted his call-up to the New Zealand squad came as a surprise.
The 22-year-old Chiefs centre is one of six new players in a revamped All Black squad.
Kahui, who missed a good chunk of the Super 14 campaign with an ankle injury, claimed he had no idea All Blacks coach Graham Henry and assistant Wayne Smith were even considering him, especially given the amount of rugby he had missed through injury.
"I didn't think the injuries themselves would count against me but maybe not getting as much game time as I would have liked this year was probably the thing I was most worried about," he said.
"I was very surprised to be at the wider training camp last week with the lack of rugby I've played but obviously they've seen something they maybe can tap into, I'm here and I'm very happy to be here."
Kahui learned of his selection on the radio via a telephone conversation with Chiefs team-mate Stephen Donald.
"I didn't have the Rugby Channel, which broadcast the announcement live, or an AM radio so I rang Stephen Donald and he put his phone next to the radio and I held my phone up to my ear and listened like that," Kahui said.
Donald is another newcomer to the All Black set-up.
"We're flatmates as well, so we shared the whole experience of the last couple of days," Kahui added.
"We've lived together for the last couple of years so having him come in here with me at the same time makes it a little easier."
Ma'a Nonu, on the other hand, has experienced life as an All Black before, starting six of his 18 Test matches.
Nonu played in the first Test against Ireland in Hamilton in 2006 and expects to see plenty of familiar faces when the Irish run out at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.
"They have been the same side for the last three or four years," Nonu said.
" It will be a tough team coming over and it's a new team for us and we only have four days to get into it so it will be tough.
"But coming into Test rugby there are no excuses and we're looking forward to the challenge."
New Zealand were forced to train inside on Monday because of heavy rain, and among the observers were Sunderland football manager Roy Keane and New Zealand and Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert.
The former Manchester United skipper and Herbert will spend about three days with the All Blacks during the build-up to Saturday's Test as part of their studies for their UEFA Pro Licence.