OPINION: Yes, Steve, I will tell you where a lot of people are going with this. On occasion we would like you to 'fess up and admit the All Blacks stepped over the thin black line. Or, in your words, were "a dirty side."

Brodie Retallick was brilliant in Dublin. He demolished lots of little green men in the tackle. He was brutal, but he was fair. Retallick may be over two metres tall, but he still hits people well below the neck-line. But five of your forwards and one of your backs could have been cited for high tackles and under the new directives that is simply not acceptable.

It will be fascinating whether the Six Nations judiciary bottles this when they hear the cases against Sam Cane and Malakai Fekitoa. They should throw the book at them, because this ferocity was tactical. Ireland had outmuscled the All Blacks in Chicago and someone had clearly decided it was not going to happen again.

Now the reaction here, at least amongst the men – most women have more brains – will be to close ranks. They will feel the honour of the country is under siege. But it is nothing of the sort. It is just a handful of blokes in a black shirt behaving in a way that we should be mature enough to call unacceptable.

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Let's not do 'speargate' all over again. We have a Lions tour coming here in under a year's time. We need to show that we have grown up enough as a country to put up our hand and admit what Steve Hansen seems incapable of.

PHOTOSPORT Sam Cane has a history of being cited for shoulder charges.

Let's start with Cane because there was a lot not to like about this tackle. You may or may not remember, but this guy has history. Back in March, Cane was cited for a shoulder charge at a ruck into the head of Nahuel Chaparro. The Jaguares prop left the pitch on a trolley after a lengthy delay. Astonishingly the commission found that the incident was "an unfortunate combination" and let Cane off.

But at least on that occasion Cane showed some concern for the stricken player. What was particularly disgusting about the incident in the 10th minute of Sunday's match was the reaction of the All Blacks' players. Cane showed zero concern for Robbie Henshaw and nor did his team. When Cane was walking away from the crash site he was given a pat of congratulations on the chest by Fekitoa and on the back by Liam Squire.

The tackle occurred because the All Blacks were determined to play on the raggedy edge. Ireland had an overlap but Kieran Read, ludicrously offside, forced Henshaw inside. Cane then wiped him out. He led with the shoulder and turned away his own head to avoid damage. The question the judiciary has to ask is whether Cane could have avoided the blow to Henshaw's head and the clear answer is yes, he could.

PHOTOSPORT Referee Jaco Peyper shows Malakai Fekitoa a yellow card.

'Citing commissioner picked out 12 incidents and 11 referred to New Zealand' - Ireland manager Mick Kearney https://t.co/c1k4WBmzYp pic.twitter.com/T7Hz8bx7Ch — Independent Rugby (@IndoRugby) November 21, 2016

Joe Schmidt knew as much. That's why he was so furious in the box. As Justin Marshall acknowledged Cane "led with the shoulder." And he did so from a dangerously upright position.

Now maybe I am old and forgetful but in all my years of watching Richie McCaw I cannot remember him ever wiping out an opponent's head like that. Cane has now done it twice in a matter of months, both times leading with the shoulder.

Rory Best, the Ireland captain, was visibly upset after the match. He said, "I'm a parent myself and you don't like to see people going off on stretchers. That's something they're [World Rugby] clamping down on and hopefully they'll continue to do that."

Schmidt said, "We've got a few head injury assessments that we're going to have to work our way through and those guys are a bit of a worry."

So rugby are you going to back up your own edicts? You issued an edict to referees to be "especially vigilant" during the November internationals on contact to players heads. Spokesman Anthony Buchanan said, as referees, we must constantly be alert to head-high hits. By taking this strong approach, we are saying to players that tackling an opponent above the shoulder line will not go unpunished."

What then are you going to do about Fekitoa. His swinging arm which felled Simon Zebo was not a one-off incident. Fekitoa was ramped and out of control. Earlier in the game he took out Rob Kearney with a shoulder charge off the ball.

Dane Coles charged Conor Murray with a high shoulder, when the halfback was in a vulnerable position, something the replacement hooker also did as soon as he came on the pitch. There was a clear tactic to intimidate the number nine.

Four other All Blacks led with a shoulder. The unfortunate Zebo was twice tipped at a ruck. Sam Whitelock tackled Jamie Heaslip round the neck. Owen Franks hit Zebo with a swinging arm. Coles dealt to Paddy Jackson when he wasn't even on the pitch. As Marshall said, "It wouldn't sit comfortably with any crowd regardless of where you are."

New Zealand Rugby needs to show some leadership on this. It is their first serious test since the season of scandals. Steve Tew, never mind his mateship with Hansen, needs to put his hand up and say the Dublin head-hunting was unacceptable.

Tew needs to give the country a lead. New Zealand is quick to take ownership of all the praise of the All Blacks record run. It now needs to take ownership of the criticism. It needs to decry the high tackling of the All Blacks and it needs to stop bleating about northern conspiracies because, frankly, it's pathetic.

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