Start with a mediocre effort from the All Blacks, who were too often strangely passive, and almost constantly error prone.
Add in a referee in Jaco Peyper, who had all the command of a headless chook. He was so ineffectual he couldn't even get the Irish to come to lineouts, his pathetic little hurry-up attempts having zero effect.
The union of failed technique from Angus Ta'avao and Leicester Fainga'anuku, a silly decision of Ofa Tuungafasi to tackle a man without the ball, and Peyper's jitteriness, led to cards raining down like a Fifth Avenue ticker-tape parade.
Top it all off with endless injury breaks and, unless you were born in Galway, buying a ticket to the game was probably the worst $180 ever invested.
The damage to the All Blacks' reputation was considerable, but just as bad was the fact that what should have been a showcase for rugby was actually about as poor an advertisement for the sport as you could get.
Referee Jaco Peyper played his part in a test to forget. Photo / Getty
Is there any light on the horizon?
The pressure on the All Blacks heading into the third test in Wellington will be the greatest they've faced in the Ian Foster era.
A win, in the test and the series, won't be enough to convince those who take it as an article of faith that the All Blacks are in the wrong hands. They need a triumphant victory.
Is there even a glimmer of light from the gloom of Dunedin? Weirdly there are several, and no, I haven't been drowning my sorrows with alcohol.
For a start, the All Blacks must surely start better than they did in the first two tests, when in the opening minutes they basically sleep walked to 5-0 down in Auckland and 10-0 down in Dunedin. As a group they'll now hurt all week, and when the anthems and the haka are over in Wellington, it'd be unconscionable for there not to be 15 angry, revved up men in black starting the game.
They can certainly defend well enough to thwart Ireland. Proof? When they were down to 13 men for 10 minutes on Saturday night Ireland couldn't score a try.
Not making unforced handling errors would change everything. Just holding onto the ball could give Will Jordan and Sevu Reece opportunities. As Jordan showed with his last-gasp try in Dunedin, they'll take them.
And, as odd as these words might have sounded after the infamous 2007 quarter-final he refereed in Cardiff, it's good news that Wayne Barnes will be in charge in Wellington. The mature Barnes is a great referee who brings a certainty and calm that promises none of the near chaos that plagued the Dunedin test.
Will Jordan scored a late try against Ireland. Photo / Getty
Not much history to repeat
Dropping an All Blacks coach has always been a much more popular option with fans and commentators than it has with New Zealand rugby officials. The past gives few hints on what's the best path.
In 1991, there was a groundswell for Alex Wyllie to be replaced by John Hart. After agonising for months the NZRU made the feeble decision to compromise and made Hart and Wyllie co-coaches. A hugely disjointed All Blacks team went out in a semifinal against Australia.
In 1999, after a horrendous five-test losing streak, the NZRU stuck with Hart. The All Blacks went out in a semifinal with France.
In 2008, after losing to France in a quarter-final in the 2007 World Cup, the NZRU reappointed Graham Henry. The most barely printable reaction came from our only unbeaten All Blacks coach, Fred Allen, who simply said, "Oh, for ****'s sake." The All Blacks went on to win the 2011 Cup.
