'It’s right up there with the Springboks in Joburg, isn’t it?' asks New Zealand head coach

A packed Aviva Stadium on a Friday night, and with fans availing of three hours in the bars after the nine-to-five is done, will amount to a giddy atmosphere and, lest we forget, Ireland are unbeaten on that patch of grass across the last 20 games.

6 November 2024; New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson during a training session at Wanderers Football Club in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

All has changed with the All Blacks. Utterly.

Some of that, like the tweaks to the way they do their media now and the switch from northside to southside Dublin after years billeted in the same hotel, are superficial. More of it goes to the core of this team and its very sense of self.