There were moments, particularly on the two occasions when they responded to conceding All Blacks tries with efforts of their own, when you wondered whether this particular storyline would deviate from the plot of the first tests of 1992 (24-21) and 2002 (15-6), but it wasn't to be.

These All Blacks are winners to the core and you won't beat them unless you produced something really special. Ireland's performance yesterday was better than good in most areas but it was still something short of the Palme d'Or variety.

"We put together a good 60, 62 minute performance but against the All Blacks that's not good enough, " said Brian O'Driscoll "You've got to play for the full 80 and we were made pay. We fell off too many tackles in the final quarter to be able to push on."

Before that final quarter, they'd scored two well constructed tries through their captain and Andrew Trimble, and with Ronan O'Gara's boot still on Heineken Cup form, they led 16-8 at halftime and 23-15 with 22 minutes left on the clock.

But the All Blacks chipped away at that tally with three penalties in a row from Luke McAlister, with a Troy Flavell try on 75th minutes sealing the comeback as Ireland paid the price for taking more risks with the ball.

"New Zealand held the football for long periods in the second half, they kept running hard at us and forced us to make tackles, " said Eddie O'Sullivan. "We'd prefer to be doing that to them. The fact of the matter was that they wore us down."

The coach's assessment was spot on but the real worry must be next Saturday's game. Thumb through those other tour scripts and you'll find that second tests in New Zealand are best watched through the gaps in your fingers. It's unlikely to be easy viewing.