Jamie Heaslip was out on his feet. He was a spent shell. He almost let Ireland go into the scrum without him.
We are so used to seeing that No.8 on the pitch and directing operations at the end of each and every match that it was strange to see him slumped over and trying to get some air into his lungs.
72 minutes on the clock and an All Blacks knock-on meant Ireland had a scrum put-in on their 22. They had just soaked up three straight, sapping minutes of Kiwi pressure but they had survived.
Looking up from my vantage in the press box, I beheld a strange sight. Heaslip was bent double with hands on knees.
The rest of the forwards packed down and were looking for Heaslip to join in. The man they look to on so many big occasions. Heaslip up-stood himself and took a gasp of Chicago air.
Heaslip knew he needed to deliver more than 72 minutes. He needed to deliver more than 80 minutes. He was there in 2013. He knew the score.
So on he went. On, and on, and on.
He was there for kick-chase as Ireland hunted down Julian Savea and forced a five-metre scrum. Then he came into his own.
Heaslip is an extremely smart rugby player. He spotted that Ardie Savea was playing ’10’ in defence of the scrum. He drew the flanker in and threw a switch for Robbie Henshaw to crash over for the game-clincher.
He had enough left to make the play that finally toppled the All Blacks.
Heaslip was playing on fumes and still making the big plays.
More of the same in two weeks? You better believe it.
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