The All Blacks have a Kaino-shaped hole. Photo / Photosport
The All Blacks have a Kaino-shaped hole. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
In the end, Jerome Kaino kind of slunk off. There was no hero's farewell for him – a few hardy souls stayed on at Eden Park after yet another dismal night for the Blues and paid their respects.
But there was no proper sense of loss when Kaino leftfor Toulouse in July 2018.
No sense of loss because it didn't feel like he was going to be missed. Not properly missed anyway. There was no giant Kaino-shaped hole that the All Blacks coaches were going to be staring at wondering endlessly and hopelessly how they were going to fill it.
There were two reasons for that – his form appeared to be on the slide. He injured a knee in May 2017 which set him back and then was barely seen as he tried to work through a personal issue.
The second factor was the rise and rise of Liam Squire and we had ourselves what appeared to be a classic case of the new, younger, stronger lion taking his place in the pack while the older alpha scuttled off, tail between his legs looking to see out the rest of his days in isolation.
But with the 2019 World Cup only weeks away, there is some regret that the time was not taken to appreciate Kaino more.
It turns out there is indeed a Kaino-shaped hole on the side of the All Blacks scrum that they can't fill. It turns out he was not as easy to replace as it seemed he would be back in 2017 and that a few more people should have hung around Eden Park last year to say goodbye to a player whose legacy should grow as it becomes apparent that so few others can do what he did.
What the All Blacks wouldn't give to have him back, even the 2017 version when he wasn't quite the thunderous force of old but still a quality player with the aggressive defence to shake people up.
With just two tests until the All Blacks have to name their World Cup squad, they don't have a player even worthy of being described as even Kaino-lite.
Well, they do, but Squire isn't available and has signalled he won't be in time for the World Cup and so the All Blacks are going to have to muddle through.
No All Black has been able to reach the benchmark set by Jerome Kaino. Photo / Photosport
What they are missing most is intimidating defence. Even Squire wasn't quite in Kaino's league when it came to lining someone up and cutting them in half.
There were, throughout Kaino's career, a number of times he genuinely scared a few big men who made the mistake of coming into contact a fraction too high with their rib cage exposed.
Welsh lock Bradley Davies was one and it's a fair bet that after being hit by Kaino in Cardiff 2010 with the impact of a mid-size car, he never again carried the ball so up right.
The All Blacks don't have anyone who strikes fear into opponents the way Kaino did and that's maybe what they are most disappointed about.
They would love it if Vaea Fifita was currently a YouTube sensation – his best hits replayed around the world, with people wincing as they watched.
They would be more than happy for him, or Shannon Frizell or any No 6 in the country, to have a reputation for being a destructive tackler.
The legend is as much of a weapon as the ability, but instead all the world knows about the All Blacks is that they haven't got an established No 6 because none of them have been able to quite prove themselves.
None have been able to reach the benchmark set by Kaino and there is nothing the rugby world loves more then sensing vulnerability within the All Blacks.
A weakness humanises the All Blacks in the eyes of everyone else, serves as a reminder they have problems like everyone else and are not this mystical beast from a far off land where ready-made test players are plucked from trees.
And if the All Blacks do indeed go down the road of shifting captain Kieran Read to the blindside this week, it will serve as a confirmation that the coaches are agreed there is a problem.
The captain, who started life as a No 6, will be a solution at least, but it hasn't previously been coach Steve Hansen's way to shift the best players to solve problems.
Kaino should come back, not to play, but so that New Zealand can farewell him properly with a deeper realisation of just how special he was.
