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One of the abiding memories of a packed rugby calendar last year involved Jerome Kaino and a Wallabies back. But it probably isn’t the one you are thinking of.
Early in the first Bledisloe Test in Auckland, Quade Cooper threw an inside ball to a flying Kurtley Beale.
Kaino lined him up and drove those reinforced shoulders into the fullback, snuffing out the danger with venom and setting the tone for the match – and the World Cup semi-final months later.
Now fast forward to that second game and picture a crumbling Wallabies scrum in the second half, driven off the ball and penalised.
Emerging from the mass of bodies is the huge frame of Brad Thorn, exulting in his pack’s physical superiority and bellowing into the Auckland night.
Thorn has played his last game for the All Blacks and Kaino will not be manhandling any Wallabies in the near future.
He is out of rugby for six months following shoulder surgery, and with a freshly inked contract to play Japan for the next two years in his pocket, his sizeable shadow may well have been removed from the Test arena forever.
Neither will be missed in Australia.
To this Generation Y of Wallabies, Thorn and Kaino had the same effect as a mirror – they couldn’t help taking a second glance.
When Kaino was absent for the Bledisloe decider in Brisbane last August, Radike Samo ran through his replacement, Adam Thomson (who was carrying a knock at the time), for one of the most misleading tries of the year. The week before, with Thorn missing from the assignment against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth, the All Blacks scrum creaked without his horsepower in the 18-5 defeat to South Africa.
Kaino has played 48 times for New Zealand, chalking up a win rate of 85.41 per cent.
Astonishingly, in 12 Tests against Australia from 2008-2011, his win rate is almost the same, at 83.33 per cent.
But in the same time frame against the much more confrontational Springboks, his win rate plummets to 54.54 per cent over 11 Tests. It is a neat insight into the Wallabies’ shortcomings in the collision zone.
In the cruel language of the playground, they have been bullied, the lack of hard men in the No.6 and No.4 jerseys highlighted every time they played.
Strip the game down and it comes down to three basics: winning your set piece, getting over the advantage line, and then releasing the fast men. With Kaino and Thorn, the All Blacks had the first two covered, and the rest naturally followed.
That is not to say their absence has left the door open for the Wallabies.
In the games that New Zealand really targeted last year, Australia were blown off the park, across the park.
Nor have New Zealand previously struggled to fill the jerseys of departing heroes. With a brilliant lack of sentimentality the All Blacks wave farewell to their champions with one hand while beckoning the next candidates with the other.
The mere opportunity seems to galvanise those next in line. Thomson comes into this category, as do Victor Vito and Liam Messam.
All are outstanding athletes, with pace to burn. But none of the trio carries the intimidation factor of a Kaino.
The closest thing to a new Kaino, the Hurricanes’ Brad Shields, is still just a youngster. The dark alleys would appear to be a little safer.
Among the second-rowers, Highlanders hard man Jarrad Hoeata has already put up his hand to take over the enforcement role vacated by Thorn. Apparently time in the big man’s presence in All Blacks camps last year was a revelation in terms of preparation. Hoeata certainly likes to hit hard and push in the scrums.
But the gap the Wallabies must bridge in terms of physicality has become a little less daunting.
The likes of Scott Higginbotham and James Horwill have been around for a while now and should be exerting a greater influence. In Sydney, the Timani brothers have size and are bristling with aggression.
If nothing else, Thorn and Kaino have shown them the standards that they should be aiming for. Whisper it for now, but the All Blacks pack is a slightly less intimidating beast than it was last year.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.