1924
All Blacks 6, Ireland 0
Lansdowne Road
The first test on the Invincibles tour and the test debut of many of the absolute greatest All Blacks — think George Nepia, Maurice Brownlie and Bert Cooke. Rain fell in a forward-dominated game. A Cooke tackle knocked the ball free from Irish winger Harry Stevenson close to the line, allowing All Blacks winger Snowy Svenson to score in the corner just after halftime. Mark Nicholls kicked a penalty not long after to secure one of the toughest of the Invincibles’ 32 victories.
1978
All Blacks 10, Ireland 6
Lansdowne Road
Skip forward 54 years and the All Blacks looked set to play out a draw in Dublin, as they had five years earlier. The scoreboard showed 6-6 with time all but up, as halfback Mark Donaldson collected a messy lineout 5m from the try line and scampered down the blind side. He offloaded to hooker Andy Dalton, who somehow stayed in and scored in the corner, despite being monstered by three Irish defenders. The win was the first test of the 1978 Grand Slam, which remained New Zealand’s only Slam until 2005.
1995
All Blacks 43, Ireland 19
Ellis Park
World, meet Jonah Lomu. The big man had been trialled as a teenage super star a year earlier, but it was the 1995 World Cup opener that was his breakout match. The All Blacks trailed after a scratchy first half-hour, before Lomu ran over the top of his opposite, Richard Wallace, to score his first test try. He added another in the second half, before memorably running 80m, swatting off four defenders and offloading to Josh Kronfeld to score. Rugby was never the same again.
2012
All Blacks 22, Ireland 19
Christchurch
The All Blacks won the first and last tests in convincing fashion. But the second test in 2012 was perhaps a sign of the next decade. Ireland battled well on a horrible Christchurch night, before a late Dan Carter dropped goal got the All Blacks home. It showed the All Blacks’ ability to find a way to win a tight game — and to do so with a drop goal — which became crucial over the next four years.
2013
All Blacks 24, Ireland 22
Croke Park
The unbeaten streak — both against Ireland and 13 games in the 2013 season — looked set to end. Ireland took a 19-0 lead after 18 minutes and, despite an All Blacks comeback, had the opportunity to put the result out of reach when Jonny Sexton lined up a penalty at 22-17 with six minutes left. Sexton missed, though, and the All Blacks showed all their poise to put Ryan Crotty over in the corner for a last-minute try. Aaron Cruden missed his first conversion, but the Irish had charged early, leaving him to break Irish hearts on his second attempt.
2016
Ireland 40, All Blacks 29
Soldier Field
No-one saw it coming, but in hindsight we probably should have. The All Blacks had, by all accounts, essentially checked out and gone on holiday in Chicago leading in to this one. They were thoroughly outplayed, as Ireland finally claimed victory over New Zealand.
2018
Ireland 16, All Blacks 9
Croke Park
If the 2016 result may have had an asterisk next to it, this one certainly did not. This game had plenty of hype and the All Blacks were up for it. The Irish were just better. They smothered the All Blacks defensively, while Jacob Stockdale scored a brilliant chip-and-chase try which proved the difference. The All Blacks ultimately ran rampant in the quarterfinal a year later, but this showed Ireland was for real and set off fear among the New Zealand rugby public with the World Cup looming.
