Amidst the elation in the aftermath of Ireland’s historic 40-29 victory over New Zealand on Saturday, full back Rob Kearney permitted himself a sigh of relief.
In Chicago, a city that saw its beloved Cubs end a 108-year wait for a World Series title earlier in the week, Ireland went one better by finally beating the mighty All Blacks after 111 years of trying.
It was a fate they were cruelly denied in 2013 when they conceded an injury-time try to Ryan Crotty in Dublin and Aaron Cruden slotted a conversion from the sideline to deny Ireland even a draw.
That can now been forgotten. Kearney and his team-mates have laid that particular ghost to rest but as he celebrated on the pitch afterwards at Soldier Field, his joy at Ireland's collective achievement was tinged with a sense of personal vindication.
After an injury-riddled 18 months, there was a growing clamour in the lead-up to the game for Kearney - for so long an automatic selection at No 15 for Ireland - to be dropped.
Kearney responded with one of his finest ever displays in an Irish jersey but he admits his growing number of critics were on his mind prior to kick-off.
"It's been a tough enough 18 months," Kearney admitted. "Just, first and foremost, the body has not been where it was been [in the past].
"Then on the back of that, you're not playing to your potential and people get on your case, then you get on your own case.
"Inside my head has been a dark enough place in the last few months.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to be selected this week, and I'm just glad I was able to repay Joe [Schmidt, Ireland coach] and my fellow players the trust that has been shown."
Kearney's Leinster team-mate Garry Ringrose is perhaps the hottest prospect in Irish rugby since Brian O'Driscoll burst onto the scene back in 1999.
Many observers were advocating for his inclusion in the Irish team at outside centre, with Ulster star Jared Payne shifting to what many consider his more natural position of full back at Kearney's expense.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt resisted the calls but he left Kearney in no doubt about what the stakes were for him before the game.
When asked the faith Schmidt showed in him, Kearney said: "He did, a huge amount of faith.
"I was glad to be able to repay it a little bit. I'm sure he'll have lots of things for me throughout the week - a few missed tackles and some coverage in the backfield, I might have got caught out once or twice.
"He pulled me aside before the game and he said, 'You need a big one today'. It wasn't ideal, but it was good."
Schmidt has coached Kearney since taking over at Leinster in 2010 and although not every player would respond to such pressure favourably, the Louth man accepts it is probably what he needed to hear.
"We've been together a long time now from when he first came to Leinster," Kearney said. "Maybe that was the one-liner that I need to put the fear of God into me.
"I've been waiting for a spark, something like that, for so long and this week I just said, 'Don't wait, just go try and make something happen with the shackles free.'
"I've been in those moments before and things haven't gone [my] way. So I won't get carried away by any means, but it's nice to be back on the horse a little bit, for how long I don't know."
New Zealand trailed Ireland 25-8 at half-time in Chicago but there was a sense of déjà vu in the second half as the world's No 1 team had cut the deficit to just four points by the 64th minute.
In November 2013 Ireland had led by 19-0 at one stage before ultimately paying the price for failing to trouble the scoreboard operators in the second half.
Kearney and his team-mates learned a painful lesson that day about not sitting back against the All Blacks and put it into practice by going on the attack - an approach which paid dividends when Simon Zebo chipped the ball behind the All Blacks defence and forced Julian Savea to concede a five-metre scrum which led to Robbie Henshaw's decisive try.
"It was unbelievable," Kearney said. "When they got their few tries and they had their purple patch, we came back under the sticks and... we were right back in the Aviva in 2013 when we were under our sticks after losing the game.
"You learn from those experiences and I think we played and went to the edge once, and Zeebs [Simon Zebo] kicked that ball down the line. That was a huge play, whereas maybe back in 2013 we would have just kicked off first phase and let them come back at us.
"It's little intricacies likes that that you can't see them from the spectator watching, but to us it was a big moment in how far we've come maybe."
The fact that Ireland managed to upset New Zealand without key performers such as Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony, Iain Henderson and Keith Earls makes the achievement all the more remarkable but Kearney says it is a credit to the systems Schmidt has implemented and the mentality he has fostered amongst his players.
"We've always seen that with this team," he said. "We've got defence and attack systems and if you've got a number from 25 to 30 guys who can fit in and do the things that are expected of you, it's less about the individual and more about the collective.
"If you work hard and do the things that you've been working on. The preparation time that we've had has been minimal but I haven't felt as prepared for a game in a long, long time.
"Everyone just fronted up and did what was expected."
The All Blacks will have an opportunity to exact their revenge on Ireland when they meet in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, November 19, in a game which will be shown live on Sky Sports 2 HD.
Kearney knows Ireland will have to raise their performance even further if they are to upset the reigning world champions for a second time in two weeks.
"They'll be back, they'll be wounded," Kearney said. "They're a class side. Their lineout was not functioning really today and they had a fair few handling errors. We're under no illusions what's coming back."