The announcement last week that Joe Schmidt will take over in the hot seat as head coach of the Ireland rugby side completes a remarkable transition from First XV coach at Tauranga Boys' College to landing one of the biggest jobs in rugby.
The likeable Schmidt has been on a fast track to the top echelon of world rugby coaching and in an exclusive interview with the Bay of Plenty Times from the Leinster training ground in Ireland, he says it has all happened by accident.
"I really just took a year off from teaching duties to finish off my Masters in management and got drafted in by VC (Vern Cotter) to help with the Bay of Plenty side, then I got drafted into the Blues, then VC got me over to Clermont (France) and then I came to Leinster," said Schmidt.
"Over the last few years I have benefited from working with some really good management and training staff, and I managed to win a few trophies in the Top 14, a couple of Heineken Cups, and we are still in two competitions with the end of the season approaching."
And it speaks volumes for his standing in the game in Ireland - across all four partisan provinces - that his appointment has been received in such a positive manner.
Ireland's iconic captain Brian O'Driscoll stated publicly last Thursday that Schmidt's appointment may make him reconsider retiring from the international game.
"I have made no secret of my admiration for him," said O'Driscoll.
"He has been fantastic for Leinster and Leinster's loss is Ireland's gain.
"I do not think they could have picked anyone who could encourage me more to hang on for another year."
Schmidt follows other New Zealanders in Graham Henry (Wales), Steve Hansen (Wales), Robbie Deans (Australia), Warren Gatland (Wales), Kieran Crowley (Canada) and former Steamers halfback Milton Haig (Georgia) to head coaching roles of a foreign national team.
But he knows it will not be easy as Ireland's performance in the last Six Nations was their worst since 1999.
"I am not sure what the answers are to be honest as I have not looked too far past Leinster's final games to come. There is a North American tour ... and I will get across to Houston and Toronto to watch those two games.
"That will be when I start trying to formulate some ideas about where we go from here ...
"There are a number of players who have been involved in what is termed the golden generation, like (Rona) O'Gara, O'Driscoll and (Paul) O'Connell, so getting the youth involved with those guys so they can learn off them is important, but also they will bring a bit of energy to things."
Schmidt obviously has much to thank Te Puke's Cotter for how his coaching career has developed. The two of them have transformed the fortunes of Bay of Plenty and Clermont.
"We are pretty different people," Schmidt said. "He is a very intelligent fellah who masquerades as a Te Puke farmer and is a lot smarter than he likes people to think. He does a really good job at motivating and driving people forward. I've learned a lot about doing those things but I am more of a coach who sits back, a reflective strategist.
"That is all very well but ... you need to be able to motivate and lead people and I think that is what he does incredibly well."
Winning the Ranfurly Shield with the Steamers and helping to change the losing culture in the team is a major highlight in Schmidt's rugby career.
"It always will be. I grew up not far from Manawatu when they had the shield, and I used to go across with my dad to games, and I was lucky to play in an unsuccessful shield challenge.
"To win it at Eden Park was all that more special and that whole season (2004) was pretty phenomenal and even in the semifinal against Canterbury, we scored some super tries and really challenged them a fair bit. They were the best team in the country at the time.
"The three years previous to 2003 and 2004, Bay of Plenty finished 10th each season, so the whole excitement of suddenly coming from nowhere was great to be caught up in."
Schmidt also has fond memories of his time at Tauranga Boys' College, both as a rugby coach and deputy principal.
" ... Part of my job day-to-day was dealing with any of the more fractious elements but the bulk of things that happened there are really positive. It is a place I really enjoyed teaching and I really enjoyed coaching.
"There are some pretty useful guys playing Super rugby at the moment that came from TBC, like Tanerau Latimer, Sam Cane, Luke Braid and Jarrad Hoeata. The school has benefited from that and across the board sport is strong at the school, as well as academics."
Schmidt has been successful with every team he has coached and if he can continue that trend with Ireland, then he will deserve to be ranked in the highest echelon of New Zealand rugby coaches.