It is time, surely, to acknowledge the enigmatic Ma'a Nonu as the gifted performer he is. He was a shining light for the All Blacks at Croke Park and maybe now, finally, his critics can eat their words.

Nonu cops a lot from those who populate the feedback areas of rugby sites like this one, many of them unconvinced he has the skills to play the second five-eighths position in this All Blacks backline. They steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the massive strides he's made over the last year, particularly in his distribution game, highlight his occasional lapses and cling vainly to the line that he's not a kicking five-eighth and thus is not the man for the job.

As the Irish would say, bollocks.

After this morning's standout performance against a competitive and charged Ireland at the cauldron Croke Park, Nonu must finally have proved he is deserving of his spot in the No 12 jersey.

Not only that, but that he's a key performer in this All Blacks backline capable of turning matches with his mix of skill, power and pace.

Wayne Smith said later he felt this was Nonu's finest test as an All Black, and it's hard to fault that appraisal from the All Blacks backline supremo who's as good a judge of talent as there is around.

There are plenty of kickers in the All Blacks backline capable of carving up territory or probing behind the defence when the occasion warrants it. That was shown vividly in this hugely contested match.

But there are none who can break tackles, find gaps and finish split-second openings like Nonu can. Sure, he's not entirely without fault and sometimes his judgment and execution strays off the straight and narrow.

But when he gets it right he's a match-turner, as he showed early in the second spell when he combined splendidly with Joe Rokocoko for the try that finally quelled the Irish challenge.

This was not a vintage All Black performance. Far from it.

They were too loose, too ill-disciplined and too harried on many occasions to say that.

But there were some fine individual efforts in a display more about defence and defiance than anything too flashy. Ali Williams had a monster game, as did his fellow lock Brad Thorn, while Rodney So'oialo got through his usual mountain of work. Richie McCaw was a constant presence, whether in the rucks or ranging out wide, while there was much to admire about the busy display from Rokocoko and the dangerous one from Muliaina, a mistake or two excepted.

But, for me, Nonu was the standout. He kept going forward all match, and his industry probably deserved more than the one try it yielded.

When he did find that space, first putting Rokocoko into the gap with a nicely weighted pass, then looping round to get the return, he also showed excellent pace to run away from the defence for the score. That's an attribute he doesn't always get credit for.

Nonu doesn't fit the mould of the New Zealand second five-eighths, and perhaps that's why so many people struggle to accept his presence there. He does get it wrong sometimes, and he always backs his ability to beat a man, more often through power than precision.

He's more artisan than artise, more grunt than guile.

But who cares? So long as he can produce displays like he did against Ireland, then for my money he deserves to wear that black No 12 jersey until someone comes along more worthy of that honour. It's a challenge Luke McAlister, for one, may find more difficult than he realises.

I'm reluctant to mark the All Blacks too harshly either after a display that was not exactly fluent, but was the sort of effort you need to collect a Grand Slam of the Home Unions. It was gritty, grunty, and after halftime there was only ever one team goign to win this match.

The Irish showed plenty on a passionate night at Croke Park, but you'll note, like Scotland, they failed to cross the All Blacks' line in 80 minutes.

Graham Henry's men may not have their atatcking game in top gear - not yet, anyway - but their defensive will and might remains excellent. It's going to take a pretty special performance to deny them a second Grand Slam in three years.

And I full expect to see Nonu there over the next two weekends providing the sort of impact that only he can serve up in an All Black backline.