The Lions' 24-21 victory over the All Blacks in the second test at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday morning kept the series alive and sets up a tantalising 3rd test for which the wounded Kiwis will no doubt come out firing.
The key talking point of the game was unquestionably Sonny Bill Williams' red card for a reckless hit to the head of Anthony Watson, but the Lions still had to fight back in order to earn their late win, and that is exactly what they did.
The All Blacks suffered their first home defeat in eight years in what was an historic win for the Lions, and the Kiwis were stunned.
The official YouTube channel of the All Blacks has since uploaded a 'behind the scenes' clip of the immediate aftermath of the result from the dressing room, and it's absolutely clear that the emotions being felt were unfamiliar for everyone in that squad.
They didn't know what to do with themselves, and you could hear a pin drop as captain Kieran Read and coach Steve Hansen went around to shake the players' hands.
Read's comments, spoken through gritted teeth as he clearly was still frustrated with what had happened on the pitch, serve as a warning, even if they were not intended to be.
It's something you've got to adapt to. [The red card] is not why we lost the game, we had our chances and didn't quite take them, and they were good enough. We were just off, I reckon, and that'll hurt you in close test matches.
In some ways it's a great challenge, and we'll look forward to next week. The boys will be hurting, and that's exactly what we feel like when we lose a test match, so, we'll turn around as quickly as we can.
The All Blacks will be hurting, and Irish fans know very well what damage wounded Kiwis can do. After our infamous win in Chicago, the All Blacks arrived in Dublin with a chip on their shoulder and they upped their physicality to a point where the rules were stretched, so we can expect more of the same in Eden Park next week.
