It was a lead they were to hold for the rest of the game. The All Blacks had made it clear that this wasn’t going to be a comprehensive win for Ireland like the one they scored last week against Scotland when they got into the game physically early on and controlled the ball well in the first seven minutes leading up to Richie Mo’unga’s first successful penalty kick that put his team into a 3-0 lead. Ireland scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park had exploited his opposite number’s absence almost immediately as he scythed over through a gap Smith might otherwise have been occupying near an attacking lineout to score Ireland’s second try. It did look at that point like Ireland might be taking control but they were unable to make a further impression on the scoreboard in the remaining six minutes - the first of the second half - that scrumhalf Aaron Smith was off the field after being carded for a tap down when his team was eight points ahead.

They also survived a tenacious Irish fightback as the No 1 team in the world showed why they have that status by fighting back from a 13-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter to trail by just one point at halftime. They did it the hard way too if you consider that they had two yellow cards during the course of the game, with the first one in particular hurting them as it cost them seven points.