Defence.

Yes, it really happened, Ireland not only defeated the All Blacks yesterday afternoon – they completely and utterly dominated them from start to finish at the Aviva Stadium.

Tries from James Lowe, Ronan Kelleher and Caelan Doris, along with the boot of Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery, ensured a famous win for the men in green, just their third in the professional era.

Before the game, many felt [myself included] that Farrell was taking a huge risk by starting James Lowe on the wing, given his defensive frailties in the past.

But the Leinster winger shut all his critics up with an incredible game in attack and defence and he couldn’t hold back his emotion after the game with an excellent post-match interview on Channel 4.

“It’s amazing. Never in a million years could I have thought this day would come,” Lowe said.

“Ever since I was a kid I had dreamt of being an All Black, that’s just a very Kiwi thing to do. I gave up that dream, I wasn’t quite good enough when I was at my best almost.

“To be able to come over here and put in a performance against the best team in the world, they are the standard-bearers, words can’t describe it. To hear my native country’s national anthem, to stand in front of the Haka, it’s a childhood dream…

“You bolloxes always talk about my [defence], and I got up and I whacked Rieko (Ioane), and we got the turnover from it.

“I don’t care about that first try, I don’t care about anything. It was that moment, to do everything I’ve been doing in the last six or seven months in the 70 minutes, that’s what I’m happy about.”