Sam Whitelock made a successful return to Test rugby during the All Blacks' 21-9 win over Ireland in Dublin.
Whitelock sprained his ankle in last month's third Bledisloe Cup Test in Auckland and has been out of action since.
Whitelock played the full 80 minutes and was shattered after his first game of rugby in a month , but was glad to be back out on the field.
"I'm feeling very good. It was always going to be testing out on the field. My body is extremely sore but everybody else's is also.
"Coming back from injury, you are always pretty nervous getting out on the field, but I'm happy with the way the boys let me play my natural game."
Along with Whitelock, Brodie Rettalick made his return to the All Blacks and both players showed their experience at crucial times, something that was lacking in the loss to Ireland two weeks ago in Chicago.
Whitelock and Rettalick combined for 31 tackles, making some ferocious hits and giving away no penalties. The experienced lock pairing also made some key plays during the lineouts, which troubles the Irish tight-five at times.
"It was something the team was not happy with a couple of weeks ago," said Whitelock.
"We are always trying to improve on it and we put some pressure on them early on. In big a big tough game like that those relationships really come through, especially when you are conceding lots of penalties."
Once again, the All Blacks' bench players made an impact when they came onto the field, and three-Test All Black Scott Barrett's efforts were noticed by Whitelock.
"Scott came on and played very well. He played really well and made an impact when we needed it."
The All Blacks will hope to end their season on a positive note when they face France next Sunday (NZ time) in Paris.
Newshub.