Ireland head into Saturday's game against New Zealand knowing they must do what they have never done before if they are to avoid an early flight home -- win a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.

They will be buoyed, however, by the fact they have become something of a nemesis of the three-time world champions, having two of their last three encounters -- something the All Blacks are all too aware of.

"We have to be smart. We are playing a team that likes to suffocate you," New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster said Friday. "We have to respect that, but at the same time we just have to make sure that we go out there and do what we want to do well."

(New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster)[Sportsfile/Getty/Kyodo]

As lock Sam Whitelock pointed out. "These games are why we play rugby. When you're a little kid playing in the backyard, these are the ones you dream about."

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has made three changes to the starting XV that beat Samoa last Saturday, with flanker Peter O'Mahony returning in place of Tadhg Beirne, Garry Ringrose in for the suspended Bundee Aki in the centers and Rob Kearney back for Jordan Larmour at fullback.

"There's probably four or five -- or maybe half a dozen -- reasonably tight selection decisions and you weigh up the experience, the previous performances against particular opposition and the combinations," Schmidt said of the changes.

"But you can't guarantee that you've got any decision right until the game is completed."

Twelve of the starting XV that will run out at Tokyo Stadium (Ajinomoto Stadium) also started in the 16-9 victory against the All Blacks last November.

But as Schmidt pointed out, nothing can be taken for granted when you play the two-time defending champions.

(Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt)[Sportsfile/Getty/Kyodo]

"The unfortunate thing about any 23 that comes up against the All Blacks is that they can play very well and still not get the result. That's the quality that the All Blacks have -- that's the athletes that they possess," he explained.

However, he believed the recent wins over New Zealand and victories in South Africa and Australia had put his side in a good position.

"The accumulation of those experiences together hopefully builds a bit of confidence -- because you need to have some belief. You can't go out against an All Blacks side and accept that you're second fiddle. You've got to go out and put your best foot forward and we hope that this 23 will be committed to doing that."

His compatriot, Steve Hansen, meanwhile has made three changes to the starting XV which played against Namibia, their last scheduled pool game against Italy having been cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.

Captain Kieran Read returns at No. 8 in place of Shannon Frizell, Richie Mo'unga is back at flyhalf instead of Jordie Barrett, and Beauden Barrett replaces Ben Smith at fullback.

Brodie Retallick and Whitelock will appear together in the second row for the 53rd time, a New Zealand record, while Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue start together in the midfield for only the third time.

"I've been fortunate in my career to play in a lot of big games, but this would have to be the biggest one," Goodhue said.

Japanese fan favorite Sonny Bill Williams is on the bench for the All Blacks.

The one-time Panasonic Wild Knight holds the Rugby World Cup record for tries scored off the bench with four, twice as many as any other player, including two against Japan in 2011.

"Come the final whistle one (team) will go right and one will go left. As the Pink Panther said, stage right would be the way to go. We all understand that," Hansen said of the knockout game.

"I caught up with (Ireland's defense coach) Andy Farrell and had a yarn with him and in that conversation, that was brought up. One of us will be going home. But that's just the cold, hard facts about the World Cup."

"We have experienced it (going out) ourselves in 2007 and there's no guarantees we won't experience it again. Ireland are in a situation where they haven't gone past a quarterfinal, so they will be doing their darndest not to go home. We'll be the same."