Jerome Kaino playing in the tight five was less than ideal for the All Blacks, who were missing three of their front line locks. Photo / Getty Images
As the post mortems begin on his All Blacks defeat, their first ever against Ireland, the first issue under the spotlight should be how crucial were the absences of their three top locks - Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Luke Romano.
The All Blacks were badly beaten up front, for
the first time in a long while. It wasn't just the lineout, though they lost three in the first half, including a crucial one after a penalty.
It was at the contact point, too. Without Retallick and Whitelock, both injured, and Romano, who went home due to a family bereavement, the big Irish men such as the giant Devin Toner and Donnacha Ryan were able to stop the All Blacks in their tracks.
They got quicker ball in the second half, but the All Blacks were in a real hole at halftime. In the end it was too deep, and how the Irish deserved to celebrate at the final whistle. Robbie Henshaw's try which sealed it in the final five minutes would have set off some special feelings in Cork and Dublin and Kilkenny.
They paid tribute to the late international and Munster coach Anthony Foley when facing the haka in a figure of eight - Foley's number as a player, and at the end of a week in which the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year losing streak, clearly the men in green were imbued with a special type of self belief in this city.
