Ireland have beaten the All Blacks in a series in New Zealand for the first time in their history after a 32-22 victory in the third Test in Wellington secured a 2-1 win.
There were remarkable scenes at the end of the match as Irish players were overcome with emotion on a special day.
Ireland were 22-3 in front at the end of a stunning first-half display. Scores from Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw added to Van Der Flier's early try as the Irish repeatedly exploited a disconnected All Blacks defence.
Sexton successfully converted the second and third tries, either side of landing a long-range penalty, as he became only the second man to surpass 1,000 points in the green jersey.
A penalty from full-back Barrett was scant consolation for the below-par hosts and New Zealand's 19-point half-time deficit was their biggest in 119 years of Test rugby.
But any prospect of Ireland cruising to victory was quickly extinguished during a frantic opening 20 minutes of the second period.
Tries from Ardie Savea, Ioane and Will Jordan helped bring the All Blacks back to within three points at 25-22 down.
Irish hopes were not helped by Andrew Porter being sin-binned for head-on-head contact with Brodie Retallick, albeit the Kiwis felt a little aggrieved after Angus Ta'avao was sent off following a similar incident last weekend.
Replacement hooker Rob Herring then touched down to settle Irish nerves, with Sexton's conversion making it 32-22 with just under 15 minutes to go.
From there, they saw out the game with an astonishing level of work-rate from the likes of Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier.
The result means the series finished 2-1 to Ireland, two weeks after they were beaten 42-19 in the first Test, before winning the second 23-12.
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