All Blacks star Beauden Barrett has offered to assist Ireland's Tadhg Beirne after the lock was red carded for a dangerous tackle during New Zealand's 26-13 triumph in Chicago.
Barrett found himself on the receiving end of Beirne's hit in just the third minute of the Test at Soldier Field, where the All Blacks overturned a 13-7 deficit with three second-half tries to exact their revenge on Ireland for their 2016 defeat at the same venue.
In near farcical scenes, it took French referee Pierre Brousset and his assistants more than three minutes to first reach a decision on Beirne's tackle, before the Television Match Official then upgraded the sanction to a red card.
All Blacks great Justin Marshall, in commentary for Sky Sport, was one of many to express his disbelief at the decision, believing that Beirne had merely braced for contact. The lock's shoulder did however make contact with Barrett's head, with the TMO deciding there was no, or not enough, mitigation to keep the sanction at a yellow card.
Surprisingly, Barrett did not leave the field for a Head Injury Assessment despite being attended to by medics on-field. And the All Blacks playmaker has since made the offer to assist Beirne in his judiciary hearing, which will serve as an interesting test case for the remainder of the Autumn Nations Series.
"I can't hide from the fact that I copped a shoulder to that somewhere up there [his head], that's what happened," Barrett said post-match.
"I'll support him in terms of mitigating whatever happens next, because I don't feel there's any intention there."
Ireland coach Andy Farrell, who was back at the helm for the first time since his British & Irish Lions stint, said it was important the officials judged the incident in "real time".
"You've got to be careful what you say, but if you watch it in real time, I don't know how it was transferred to [red]," Farrell said. "They've obviously got their reason.
"They've got all their angles, but for me, the only way is to watch it in real time. We actually dealt with it pretty well, to be fair, but that doesn't make it any better."
The All Blacks will meanwhile be sweating on the fitness of Barrett's brothers, Scott and Jordie, after both men departed Soldier Field before halftime on Saturday afternoon [ET].
First captain Scott was taken off with a nasty leg gash, before inside-centre Jordie suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury after taking a high ball.
Jordie Barrett attempted to keep playing but then left the field a short while later, with All Blacks coach Scott Robertson confirming his midfielder would be sent for scans ahead of New Zealand's Test with Scotland at Murrayfield.
"He's tough, he just wanted to keep running,'' Robertson said.
"He got a little bit of a hip drop... we will just see how bad with a scan when we land in Edinburgh tomorrow [Monday] morning.''
The All Blacks are chasing a Grand Slam, with this week's clash with Scotland and a visit to Allianz Stadium Twickenham set to decide whether they achieve a sweep of the Home Nations.
Ireland, meanwhile, will return to Dublin to face Japan, who were walloped 61-7 by South Africa at Wembley over the weekend.