New Zealand has never been short on talented rugby families, but the number of siblings playing alongside each other at the elite level may never have been higher than it is now.
From the Barretts to the Whitelocks, the Lienert-Browns to the McKenzies, New Zealand's five Super Rugby franchises feature brothers either playing alongside or against each other.
And then there are the Ioane boys, Akira and Rieko, who will on Wednesday night enjoy the special honour of facing the British & Irish Lions alongside one another in front of a packed Eden Park. Like all good New Zealand rugby stories, the Ioanes' journey to the top began in the humble the backyard with those bitter brother battles of one-on-one rugby.
"Usually with me on my back and my brother laughing away," Rieko Ioane tells ESPN when asked to recall how those backyard games finished. "There is obviously a bit of banter between myself and him [Akira] and my dad as well; he used to play as well. But everything is all good, everything is all good.
"We always used to have our players, and I always used to be Greg Inglis if we were playing league or Tana [Umaga] if we were playing rugby; those were the two. It was usually only one-on-one so, yeah, that's as far as it went."
Given their breeding, it's no surprise that Rieko, 20, and Akira, 21, have already hit some impressive heights in their rugby careers. The boys' father, Eddie, played five Tests for Samoa, including at the Rugby World Cup 1991, while mother Sandra played for the Black Ferns - New Zealand's Women's side.
And no matter how well, or badly, the Ioane boys have played, Eddie is there to offer the honest feedback and even the classic "back in my day" line should the situation arise.
"Not so much now, but definitely coming through school dad used to give it to us on how good he was," Rieko tells ESPN. "And, obviously, back in the day there wasn't too much footage so we're not the ones to say 'no' to him. But until we find that footage dad always holds it over us.
"He's the role model. He's always been the role model since we were young. So it's awesome to have him around and to have him as a second coach. When we get home from games he keeps it [feedback] pretty straight, calls a spade a spade. So it's awesome to have him around."
Mum, Sandra, however, is a little more reserved.
"Mum's the exact the same, but mum doesn't brag about it as much as dad," Rieko says. "Mum just does her job. We knew how good mum was; we've seen a couple of videos.
"But as I said before, just the support both mum and dad give, and the experience of what they've done at the top level, is awesome to have around and motivates my brother and I."
Rieko and Akira have both already done plenty to make their parents proud. Just last year alone, the Ioane boys both represented the Blues and the New Zealand Sevens team, including at the Rio Olympics, before Rieko earned his first Test cap off the bench against Italy - making him the eighth-youngest All Blacks debutant of all time.
Both boys have also already represented the New Zealand Maori, while Rieko is right in the running for Steve Hansen's Test squad that will be unveiled on Thursday. The Maori squad will be named the same day.
One man sure to be among Hansen's 33-strong All Blacks list is Sonny Bill Williams. The code-hopper on Tuesday was declared fit to start for the Blues against the Lions, and, with Crusaders veteran Ryan Crotty now under an injury cloud with a rib cartilage problem, Williams looms as a key figure in the All Blacks backline.
"He's the man, he's been my idol growing up," Rieko Ioane says of Williams. "Coming from sevens with him it was awesome, and to take the 15s field with him has been a dream come true. Everything he brings to the team is awesome. All the boys absorb as much as he gives out.
"Obviously just his professionalism, on and off the field, you can't fault him there. So he's awesome to have around the team environment; it's awesome to be playing with him. It's a dream come true."
While playing alongside Williams is a reasonably recent phenomenon, Rieko has long enjoyed the special opportunity of lining up alongside his big brother. On Wednesday night in Auckland, it will be one of their biggest double-acts yet.
"We're pretty close, we lived in a pretty small house before we moved so everything had to be pretty close [quarters]. Him and I have been going to the same school, same team, same everything for our whole lives now. So we're definitely very close and it's awesome to see him grow as player and as a person, on and off the field.
"So, yeah, everything between us is sweet, and it's just exciting getting to play with your brother and take the field; I couldn't ask for anything better."