All Blacks v Ireland: Irish surge to famous victory over New Zealand in pulsating Dublin test

Irish eyes will be smiling across the Emerald Isle, after their team shocked the All Blacks 29-20 at Dublin to claim their third - and arguably best - victory over their southern foes.

Dictating proceedings from the outset, Ireland executed their gameplan to perfection, dominating both field position and possession to pile the pressure on New Zealand from the opening whistle.

Forced to make a mountain of tackles, the All Blacks held strong to keep themselves in the contest, but ultimately wilted under constant waves of attack from the Irish, and were undone by indiscipline, their own inaccuracy with ball in hand and a steely determination from their hosts not to let this one slip away.

And there were eery reminders of heartbreak of yesteryear, as the All Blacks - trailing by six points - camped on the Irish line late with a chance to steal a win. 

But a Ioane-to-Ioane try was justifiably called back for a forward pass by English referee Luke Pearce, who was heavily involved throughout the match. New Zealand chose to take three points rather than pack a scrum and Ireland immediately swung back with another penalty of their own to re-establish their buffer.

A final roll of the dice from deep within their own half was killed off by an Irish defensive penalty, sending the players and a raucous Aviva Stadium into raptures.

Joey Carbery drove the final nail into the NZ coffin - there would be no repeat of Ryan Crotty's 2013 heroics. It was safe to celebrate and you can guarantee the Guiness will flow across the country, after such a comprehensive performance.

Since finally breaking their duck against the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016, Ireland have now won their three of their past five games against the New Zealanders.

Ireland's James Lowe celebrates.
Ireland's James Lowe celebrates. Photo credit: Getty

The All Blacks were done no favours by the loss of Beauden Barrett, who failed an head injury test after just 15 minutes. Anton Lienert-Brown's experience was also missed, when he was forced from the field with injury a few minutes before halftime.

But Ireland were superior at set-piece and more fundamentally sound, and deservedly left with their hands raised. The All Blacks may even have been a touch flattered by the nine-point margin of victory.

Meanwhile, questions will be raised over their gameplan, which seemed heavily predicated on kicking - irrespective of their position on the field and Ireland's dominance of the ball.

Numbers speak to just how comprehensive the result was. Ireland finished with advantages in possession (61 percent), territory (67 percent) and metres gained (478m to the All Blacks' 328m), while forcing their opponents to make 238 tackles to just 101 of their own. 

Flanker Caelen Doris terrorised the All Blacks across the park in a man-of-the-match performance, while Jonathan Sexton - as is his trademark - expertly guided his troops around the park.

The Kiwi-born contingent of James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park and Bundee Aki were all outstanding - clearly playing with an extra chilly in their curries.

On the other side of the field, Dalton Papalii put in a workhorse display for the All Blacks, as did fellow loose forward Aride Savea, while Will Jordan continued his breakthrough tour, with another sharp showing on the wing.

The All Blacks were reduced to 14-men, when Codie Taylor was shown a yellow card for his relatively innocuous hit on Johnny Sexton, and Ireland quickly took advantage.

Turning down the first of many straightforward shots at goal for a 5five-metre lineout, the Irish expertly sucked in the All Blacks defensive line, before swinging the ball wide to their backs. Aki's skip-pass freed up Hugh Keenan to send Lowe over in the corner with an expert finish in the 15th minute.

Jordie Barrett reduced the deficit through a penalty from handy range, before the All Blacks spilled the restart to begin another long period of attacking pressure from the Irish.

In the 30th minute, a decision to seek a try, rather than another penalty seemed to pay dividends, until Tadhg Furlong's try was called back, with the referee deeming the prop had taken a second movement in his short-range burrow to the line.

The All Blacks immediately rubbed salt into that wound, with their first try of the game off the back of a slick set-piece move. Papalii was sent clear into space from a 22m lineout, finding Taylor looming outside to sprint the final 20 metres to the line.

After repelling another wave of attack, the All Blacks escaped to the sheds with an unlikely 10-5 lead, despite Ireland forcing them to make 276 tackles to just 99 of their own.

Aware they should have more to show for their efforts on the scoreboard, Ireland came out blazing in the second stanza, striking twice in the space of 10 minutes.

Hooker Ronan Kelleher showed great strength to power over from a short ball on the NZ line, before flanker Caelen Doris ran a superb line from a ruck to go in under the crossbar.

Beauden Barrett and his All Blacks teammates ponder the loss.
Beauden Barrett and his All Blacks teammates ponder the loss. Photo credit: Getty

The All Blacks seemed to pay the price for their earlier efforts defensively, as the Irish continued to control the match, capitalising on a makeshift NZ midfield.

Entering the final quarter, a moment of individual brilliance from Will Jordan provided an instant boost to the All Blacks.

Receiving the ball with space inside his own half, Jordan chipped his defender, Rieko Ioane regathered, and Jordan was on hand to to take the final ball and run behind the posts, cutting the deficit to just three points and providing a second wind.

But while they were able to get more ball in hand through the final stages, the All Blacks lacked composure, as they chased the chalk, lacking direction and continually squandering possession with questionable kick options, as replacement first-five Joey Carbery stepped up to seal Ireland's win.

The All Blacks will now head to Paris, where they'll take on France next Sunday - a chance to end their mammoth 12-week odyssey on a high note.

Ireland 29 (James Lowe, Ronan Kelleher, Caelan Doris tries; Jonny Sexton pen, con; Joey Carbery 3 pens), All Blacks 20 (Codie Taylor, Will Jordan tries; Jordie Barrett 2 pens, 2 cons), Halftime: 5-10.

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