Jerome Kaino on his way to score a try during the quarterfinal against France. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Jerome Kaino on his way to score a try during the quarterfinal against France. Photo / Brett Phibbs
He won't agree with this, but Jerome Kaino in an All Blacks career that stretches back to 2004, set the standards for every player in this country who wears the No 6 jersey.
Kaino, like most genuine hard men is most uncomfortable when lavished in praise, would say that Jerry Collins was the man who set the benchmark for modern blindsides in terms of expectations about physicality and intimidation.
Kaino would also most likely say that it was one he never reached.
But don't believe it. Kaino, after 81 tests, signs off as the best No 6 of the professional age. No one in New Zealand, or anywhere else, can claim to have done more or been a better blindside than Kaino.
His off field deference can't obscure the on-field ferocity that defined the player he was between 2010 and 2016.
He will be the man used to inspire the next generation. It will be Kaino who is held up by Liam Squire, Vaea Fifita and Akira Ioane in the next few years as the player they aspire to become.
And there can be no greater tribute to any All Black than to vacate a jersey and yet retain such a strong presence within it.
It will be hard for Squire and Fifita to break free from endless comparisons and establish themselves in the their own right because Kaino has left an indelible number of memories of what he did in that All Blacks No 6 jersey.
It took Kaino a while to tap into his inner warrior and understand the demands of test football and the level of sacrifice that has to be made to succeed.
Jerome Kaino tackles Australia's David Pocock, during the 2011 semi-final. photo / Brett Phibbs
His early years were erratic, his talent always visible but his consistency not so much.
But by 2010, he got there. He made the realisation that the sum of talent and hard work far outweigh just talent – proof of which came in the final game of the season in Cardiff where he played with such intensity and presence that it became obvious the Welsh were fearful of where to tread.
There was one tackle Kaino made on Welsh hard man Bradley Davies that was timed so beautifully, and executed with such aggression while being technically perfect that it may have to be considered the greatest hit ever made.
It was a man of the match performance from Kaino which is why All Blacks coach Graham Henry had no hesitation in anointing his blindside with world class status.
That meant plenty to Kaino as earlier that week he had talked, from the heart, that what mattered to him the most was earning the respect of those with whom he played.
Jerome Kaino along with Saimone Taumoepeau after both were named in the All Blacks squad in 2004. Photo / Brett Phibbs
There would have been no doubt, that 12 months later, he had the undying respect of not just his teammates, but that of every player in the world game.
Kaino was New Zealand's player of the 2011 World Cup – this machine, seemingly sent from the future, to destroy everything in its path.
Everyone remembers his tackle on Digby Ioane in the semi-final because how could you not: he miraculously saved a certain try and buckled the Wallabies wing all in one movement.
Extraordinary – as was his performance four years later in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final.
Jerome Kaino celebrates winning the final of the RWC 2011. Photo / Richard Robinson
He made a staggering number of dominant tackles that night – turning Cardiff into his own Waterloo where he became a kind of futuristic Duke of Wellington maiming Frenchmen at will.
It's not possible to place a value on what that sort of enforcement work is worth, because it stretches deep into the psyche of the game. Over the years, how many opponents opted to kick or pass instead of run knowing what threat Kaino posed?
How often were poor decisions made simply by the presence of Kaino and the reputation he carried?
If there is one sadness it is that a career as long and distinguished as his, hasn't been able to end on quite the terms he would have liked.
But for a knee injury, he would have played the All Blacks' final test of 2017 in Cardiff and possibly wound back the clock and signed off with the sort of unforgettable, high impact performance he delivered on the same ground seven years earlier.
Kaino made a staggering number of dominant tackles against France in 2015. Photo / Brett Phibbs
That would have been more fitting, but an untidy ending shouldn't obscure the fact Kaino was unquestionably a great All Black.
And maybe the greatest tribute of all is that while there will be sadness at his decision to retire in New Zealand, around the world there will be opponents quite delighted to see the back of him and know they will never again feel his 114kg frame crashing into their rib cage.
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