reland fought to win a historic series in New Zealand after holding off a backlash in the second half to secure a stunning 32-22 success from an epic encounter in Wellington.
Andy Farrell‘s men led by 19 points at halftime thanks to a mesmerizing first half display that saw attempts for Josh Van Der Flier, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw.
But the All blacks thanks to scores from Ardie Savea, Akira Ioane and Will Jordan to within three points in a breathless second period, before Rob Herring made the crossing to help the tourists home on a historic night.
Members of Ireland’s victorious squad were pictured full-time in tears as they enjoyed perhaps the best result in their country’s history.
Captain Johnny Sexton, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Monday, scored 12 points and became the second man to surpass 1,000 in the green jersey.
Ireland only won to New Zealand for the first time last weekend by rebounding from a 42-19 drubbing in the Auckland opener to win 23-12 in Dunedin and set up the decider.
Head coach Farrell had expressed hope that his side had saved their best performances for the final Test.
The Englishman got his wish duly granted on a phenomenal 40 minute opening full of power and intensity before the Irish weathered a storm of the second half which was heightened by the loss of prop Andrew Porter by a yellow card to end the series 2-1 to win.
“They will be talking about this for a long time. This is a special group and this is the hardest thing to do in world rugby,” Farrell said.
“We said this would be the start of our World Cup year, but it feels bigger than that. Even after the first game, when we were held above the tryline five times, we believed we could beat anyone.
“We don’t get carried away by ourselves, whether it’s good for us or against us.”