Steve Hansen has refused to take the bait set for him to refuel his long-running feud with Warren Gatland.
The two coaches clashed repeatedly during the Lions tour of New Zealand and both have kept the bad blood simmering with barbs directed at the other in the past few weeks.
After Gatland claimed he hated the summer Lions series, All Blacks coach Hansen suggested the Wales coach should quit if he no longer enjoys what he is doing.
Gatland responded with a pithy remark in an interview that Hansen had probably not enjoyed his long losing sequence when he was in charge of Wales – a retort that lost a little of its venom since the record he quoted was slightly inaccurate.
Now, the pair are set to lock horns again on Saturday when Wales host New Zealand at the Principality Stadium, looking for their first victory in the fixture for 64 years.
But after the All Blacks had beaten Scotland 22-17 at Murrayfield at the weekend, Hansen refused to discuss the relationship.
“You know I don’t want to go there so there’s no point asking me because I’m not going there,” Hansen replied when asked about Gatland.
After being pushed further, he added: “As I just said, I’m not going there.”
The All Blacks have suffered a double injury blow ahead of the game in Cardiff with Rieko Ioane and Luke Romano picking up problems against Scotland.
Wing Ioane, who has begun his international career in outstanding form, scoring nine tries in 12 Tests, has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, while lock Luke Romano sustained damage to his heel.
Ioane’s absence could mean a return for Seta Tamanivalu, with David Havili and Matt Duffie also in contention.
Speaking about 20-year-old Ioane, Hansen said: “It doesn’t look like he’s going to be right for Saturday, he’s done a rotator cuff, so quite weak.
“He’s the rookie and player of the year nominee for a reason, he’s played really, really well so it’s an exciting challenge for someone else to step up and do that job.
“I’ve got plenty of faith in the bloke we’re probably going to pick. He’s going all right so we’ll see how he goes.”
Gatland has confirmed Liam Williams is a doubt for after coming off injured during Wales’ win against Georgia on Saturday.
The Saracens player has a leg injury and Gatland said: “I’m not sure about Liam Williams. He is hobbling around.”
Gatland was more upbeat on the possibility of flanker Justin Tipuric featuring against New Zealand after he missed Wales’ first two autumn internationals due to a thigh injury.
