As captain Codie Taylor so succinctly summarised it – Sunday’s triumph at Murrayfield was much bigger than rugby for the All Blacks.
After one of the most uniquely challenging weeks for both players and staff, the team galvanised to honour the memory of their fallen soldier Logan Cadwallader, their longtime head of security who died at the team hotel last weekend, with an ultimately comprehensive 43-21 win over Scotland.
The emotion was tangible from the moment the men in white took to the turf. The breaths deeper during the anthem – intensified by Cadwallader’s son Trey and brother Dwayne’s presence - the pūkana more fearsome during the haka, then the tears choked back at the final whistle amid the palpable relief.
The performance itself lacked the precision we’ve come to expect from the high bar Dave Rennie has already set early in his tenure, but you get the sense any brand of win would’ve been a satisfying one given the turmoil of the past seven days.
“We wanted to win for (Logan),” Taylor said at the post-game press conference.
“It's about acknowledging one of our brothers that had fallen, and a husband, father, son, who was highly respected in our group, and to be able to go out there tonight and and get the result (was great).
“There was a lot of emotion in the anthem, and looking across to the management, how much they were feeling it as well.
“There was definitely a bit more of a motivation there to front up in the jersey and represent him.”
“It was an important day for us,” head coach Dave Rennie added.
“It was a tough week. A massive emotional toll on the group, and you would have seen some players visibly upset on the final whistle. I’m proud of the men to get through that."
The most telling symbol of the depth of that respect saw the entire squad, including the non-playing reserves, join Taylor as he led an extra heartfelt rendition of Ka Mate, a gesture never before seen from the All Blacks, who were each wearing commemorative armbands.
“I wasn't actually aware at the time… what I know is that everyone wanted to pull the jersey on tonight, but obviously that can't happen,” said Taylor.
“From what I hear, their thinking was we want to be part of the haka because we can actually pay our respects that way.
“To hear that is just goes to show the connection of the group and how much (Cadwallader) meant to us.”
Beauden Barrett told Sky Sport: “It took days to even contemplate wanting to play a game of rugby."
“It took us days to lock in and be able to focus, periods of time to be able to prepare genuinely. [I’m] super proud of how we did that, how strong this team is and how we came together.”
The All Blacks carried that momentum from the haka through to the opening whistle, as Wallace Sititi struck the first blow inside the opening four minutes, signalling to the heavens in a subtle nod to Cadwallader.
While Scotland struck back instantly, they were kept at relatively comfortable arm’s length throughout the contest, despite New Zealand’s narrow three-point advantage at the interval, after being stifled by errors and ill-discipline.
They were temporarily reduced to 13 players at one stage, after loose forwards Sititi and Peter Lakai were show yellow cards. The hosts cashed in on that advantage, as hooker Ewan Ashman scoring two of his three tries on the night while the All Blacks were at a deficit.
That difference in quality was immediately in the second stanza, when the defensive intensity ramped up and passes which went to ground in the opening 40 started to stick, and the New Zealanders were able to pull clear with an unanswered 19 points.
“We weren't very well connected defensively first half, but I thought we were excellent second half. So that that was a good shift, and Tana talked about some things at halftime.
Attack-wise, we weren't quite as connected. You know, when we're sweeping around, occasionally we were one pair of hands short, and could have really put them under under the pump. So, we'll look at all that.
“But I was happy with the work ethic, happy with the physicality or brutality that we often talk about, and happy that for Logan we got a good result tonight.”
On the wrong side of the penalty count in the first half, that ledger swung dramatically in the second half and the hosts finished with 13 against to their opponents’ eight.
“It was an ill-disciplined first half. Couple of yellow cards. You give Scotland opportunities near finish zone; they're going to hit you,“ Rennie noted.
“But we were better second half. We went to a contestable kick game to limit their time from a counterattack point of view, and were a lot more clinical, and we dominated territory a bit better. So not as clinical today as we have been.
“You just saw us lose our shape a couple of times, and from turnover we had two or three really gilt edge opportunities that we spilt.”
There was some concern over the status of linchpin Jordie Barrett, who suffered a nasty collision when attempting to make a tackle late in the match.
Rennie confirmed the resulting head injury assessment was deemed a category one, which essentially rules him out next weekend against Wales in Cardiff.
Will Jordan also departed with a hamstring tweak, which Rennie confirmed requires further testing to determine its severity.
The result consolidates the All Blacks’ spot in second in the Southern Hemisphere conference of the Nations Championship.
But after the Springboks’ mammoth 66-7 win over Italy, they’ll need to run up a huge score against the embattled Welsh - who edged Japan 28-21 this morning - to overcome the points differential of 67 they currently face to earn a place in the inaugural final at Twickenham later this month.
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