Test rugby is back — and it is a beautiful thing. The All Blacks also did enough to show that they may just be back on the rise.
I had the All Blacks to win by 15 points, with my view influenced by the venue, Fortress Eden Park.
They won by 23 points in scoring 42 and conceding 19 in a Test that was defined by the All Blacks individual brilliance on attack and resilience in defence.
Ireland are a very good side and were tremendous in the opening 20 minutes. They play with much fluidity, confidence and calm. They also play with familiarity, with so many players from Leinster.
They are a particularly settled team and in those opening 20 minutes it looked like very little had changed since the 29-20 win against the All Blacks in Dublin last November.
Ireland, since winning for the first time in their history against the All Blacks in Chicago a few years ago, had beaten the All Blacks twice in succession at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
They’d won three of the past five Tests against the All Blacks, but they had never won a Test in New Zealand.
For the first 20 minutes, it looked like history was to be rewritten. Ireland had the edge in the collisions and were comfortably in control in that opening quarter. They scored after 18 phases to lead 5-0 and could have had another try but for the defensive intuition of All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett.
Then the Test match changed in the space of 10 minutes. The All Blacks improved their defensive line speed, increased their intensity in the tackle and then pounced for a Sevu Reece intercept and produced some individual moments of genius to score three converted tries for 21 unanswered points.
Those 10 minutes were vintage All Blacks, reminiscent of Richie McCaw’s incomparables that won back-to-back World Cups in 2011 and 2015.
More tries would come for the All Blacks and so would dominance in the set piece.
Ireland played well and were belligerent until the 82nd minute when pushing for a fourth try. The visitors were over the line on four occasions and were twice held up and twice lost the ball in the tackle. They played with belief but the All Blacks played better.
The New Zealanders have some of the very best individual attack players in international rugby and Barrett, at flyhalf, leads the list.
The All Blacks physically were destroyed by the Springboks, Ireland and France late last year and it’s been a long seven months for many of the battered New Zealanders to right the wrongs
He just knows how to do miracle plays. The width of his pass and insanely judged precision in the grubber kick that led to inside centre Quinn Tupea’s try, are examples of this, but Barrett’s defence was also significant.
He was often used at fullback defensively and made some very important tackles.
Barrett, who prefers flyhalf to fullback, looked like the athlete who won successive World Rugby Player of the Year awards. He again had presence and played with authority.
Inside of Barrett, scrumhalf Aaron Smith reminded his critics that class is permanent, and form is temporary, especially if you are playing Super Rugby for a team that loses 11 from 15 matches in the season.
The All Blacks physically were destroyed by the Springboks, Ireland and France late last year and it’s been a long seven months for many of the battered New Zealanders to right the wrongs.
They did that emphatically at Eden Park, where they have not lost for 28 years. Their scrum was strong, and their line-out was balanced on attack and in defence.
But it was their scrambling defence that pointed to a team finding its desire again and one wanting an identity that speaks to the warrior history so prevalent in the make-up of this squad.
It was a great Test match and it set the scene for a fabulous month of international rugby.
• Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.