In the New Zealand Herald, Paul Gregor hails the fulfilment of talent after Jerome Kaino's influential role in the All Blacks' World Cup triumph.
Just as there were plenty of people who wondered whether New Zealand would ever win another World Cup, so many feared that Jerome Kaino would flicker, then fade.
He's been a great player in waiting since he won the IRB Under-21 Player of the Year in 2004. That was the year he was taken on tour with the All Blacks, despite the fact he was yet to play Super Rugby.
He went for the experience, to be indoctrinated in the ways of the national team, because coach Graham Henry could see that Kaino was going to be spending a considerable period of his future in the test arena.
But the path that Henry and others felt Kaino would follow suddenly became hard to find. From looking sensational for the All Blacks against the Barbarians in 2004, Kaino soon became lost.
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