November 5th 2016.
Ireland 40. New Zealand 29.
It felt good then and, if you allow yourself to remember some of the details, it feels just as good now.
The horror start. The maul rumbling the Kiwis. Murphy’s try. Murray’s snipe. McGrath and Furlong’s half-time turnover. Zebo’s score that gave us belief. The comeback. The gnawing. Trimble’s tactics. Heaslip’s switch pass and Henshaw driving home the dagger.
Brian O’Driscoll always said we’d beat them in his life-time. He was there watching. So were Paulie and a not too upset Doug.
I spoke with O’Driscoll a few weeks after the All Blacks had been bested, and after they had righted that wrong [or wronged that right] at the Aviva Stadium. We chatted about a Lions squad announcement that seemed an age away. He told me:
“You have to remember that if you are picking a team to go down and play the two-time world champions, you have to look at who has played against them recently and who has won against them recently. There’s only going to be one team from the four that can say they’ve done both.”
It was a compelling argument. Buoyed by his words, the lay of the land and my own take on matters, I predicted 12 Irish Lions with definite room for one or two more. Five Ireland stars would make the Lions starting XV for the First Test at Eden Park if they could avoid serious injuries.
Tadhg Furlong. CJ Stander. Conor Murray. Johnny Sexton. Robbie Henshaw. You could make solid arguments for Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Jamie Heaslip and Simon Zebo too.
Eight months on – 231 days – and only two Irish players have made that starting 15 to face the All Blacks again. There is a lot of talk, within the Lions camp, of recreating Ireland’s stunning victory but Gatland seems content to do it with only a handful of Irish internationals.
Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien will both start in Auckland but neither played in Chicago that fateful day.
Here’s what happened to Ireland’s Soldier Field heroes:
Jack McGrath: On the bench against New Zealand. In good form, just not enough to dislodge Mako Vunipola.
Rory Best: Made the tour but missed out on the First Test squad. Captained midweek Lions to win over the Chiefs.
Tadhg Furlong: Starting tight-head for the Lions.
Donnacha Ryan: Moving from Munster to Racing 92. Not on Ireland’s summer tour and his international career could well be over.
Devin Toner: Lacklustre Six Nations did not help his Lions cause. Currently on Ireland’s end of season tour, in Japan.
CJ Stander: Missed out on matchday 23 after being just about everyone’s tip to be starting blindside in First Test.
Jordi Murphy: Has not played since injuring his knee in that famous Chicago win.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMe0cewlRN8/?taken-by=jordimurphy&hl=en
Jamie Heaslip: Disc issues led to back surgery in March and his season ended there.
Conor Murray: Starting scrum-half for the Lions. Kiwis can’t get over his box-kicking.
Johnny Sexton: On the bench after losing out to Owen Farrell in battle for No.10 jersey.
Simon Zebo: Unlucky to miss out on Lions squad. Very unlucky not to be a late call-up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVjcpLRAPMA/?taken-by=simonzebo&hl=en
Robbie Henshaw: Good defensively but has failed to impose himself going forward in attack. Dirt-tracker, for now.
Jared Payne: Surprised many by making the wider Lions squad. But for some handling errors – by Payne and his teammates – he could be the Lions leading tryscorer by now.
Andrew Trimble: Did not make the Lions squad and given the summer off by Joe Schmidt.
Rob Kearney: As above, but he did have injuries to deal with after the Six Nations.
SUBS: Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Josh van der Flier and Joey Carbery all toured with Ireland this summer. The other replacements that featured at Soldier Field – Sean Cronin and Ultan Dillane – are both rehabbing injuries.
