July 2022 wasn’t one of the great months in New Zealand rugby history. The All Blacks lost consecutive home test matches to Ireland, heaping intense scrutiny on the players and coaching staff, which would continue across the rest of a challenging year. But those defeats in Dunedin and Wellington bookended a week during which there was a definite bright spark.
On a rain-soaked Tuesday night in the capital, Ireland played the second of two matches against the Māori All Blacks. With 10 minutes to go, an Irish kick downfield was collected just outside the 22 metre line by a player who’d recently arrived from the reserves bench. He set off on a 50 metre run, splitting Ireland wide open and taking him deep into opposition territory. As the cover defence arrived, he
