Watch: The air sucked out of Aviva Stadium as All Blacks break 50,000 Irish hearts

Heading into the final All Blacks fixture of the 2013 test season, Steve Hansen's side were sitting on the precipice of creating rugby history.

Undefeated in all 13 matches heading into Aviva Stadium, the Kiwis needed to dispatch Ireland to become the first international side to complete an unbeaten season in the professional era.

New Zealand's prospects of achieving that unprecedented feat got off to a rocky start, though, as Ireland took the game to the visitors in Dublin right from the opening whistle.

Conor Murray burrowed his way over for the first try of the contest after just five minutes, with hooker Rory Best doubling down just six minutes later following some persistent build-up play deep in All Blacks territory.

Rob Kearney then capitalised on an Israel Dagg knock on to canter away for an 80 metre try to give the Irish a 19-0 lead after just 18 minutes.

While the home crowd were sent into raptures about their side's early blitz of the reigning world champions, the All Blacks were left astonished as they stared down the barrel of their first ever defeat to Ireland.

"I was just sitting on the bench and I was shocked," All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett, who donned the No. 22 jersey that day, recalled of the fixture.

"Looking around and watching the Irish and the crowds, they couldn't believe it as well."

With all the momentum going Ireland's way, the All Blacks desperately needed a reprise before half-time, and they got that in the form of a Julian Savea try from a nicely weighted Aaron Cruden grubber in the 26th minute.

A Johnny Sexton penalty goal extended Ireland's lead to 22-7 at the break, but Cruden's three-pointer 13 minutes after the break cancelled out that score as they All Blacks continued their comeback.

A try to reserve prop Ben Franks from some continuous pick-and-go work in the 65th minute saw the New Zealanders edge closer to chasing down the hosts, who were handed a chance to seal the game inside the final 10 minutes.

The All Blacks were penalised for dragging a maul down just shy of their own tryline, giving Sexton the chance to extend Ireland's buffer beyond the crucial seven-point buffer.

However, the 2018 World Rugby player of the year shanked the relatively easy penalty attempt astray, sending it to the right of the posts from the 22 metre mark to keep the Kiwis in with a shout with the scoreline sitting at 22-17.

"One try, we've got the firepower to do that," All Blacks captain Richie McCaw later re-called. "Even if we've had a bad 75 minutes, 78 minutes, there's still a chance to put it together."

That the New Zealanders did, with an Aaron Cruden skip pass finding the hands of replacement hooker Dane Coles, who managed to suck in two Irish defenders on the left wing and free up reserve midfielder Ryan Crotty to scramble over to level the scores in dramatic fashion.

"It was unreal," Crotty said of the try. "[It was] kind of a blur, if that makes sense. It just happened.

"The 14 guys inside you that did the job to create that was pretty impressive."

Entrusted with putting the final nail in the coffin, more drama ensued Cruden's misfired conversion attempt was voided due to a trio of Irish players rushing up to charge the kick down too early.

Handed a second chance to seal the deal from wide out on the left-hand touchline, Cruden didn't muff his follow-up effort, sending the ball down the middle of the posts to hand the All Blacks a famous 24-22 victory.

The magnitude of the clash wasn't lost on pundits around the world, who took to Twitter to express their amazement at the result that had silenced the Irish crowd after their raucous support of the home side in the first half.

Stuff's Marc Hinton described the Irish as "gallant and desperately unlucky" in his post mortem, a sentiment of which was echoed by the NZ Herald's Patrick McKendry, who wrote: "It was so cruel on Ireland, a most unlikely of victories for the All Blacks. A perfect season but not a perfect performance."

"It's a funny old feeling, actually," McCaw said in a celebratory changing room post-match. "We wanted to perform well, we didn't really, we weren't allowed to.

"The Irish played bloody well, but you've got take your hat off to the boys in this team, the belief and just hanging in there. We got there in the end."

McCaw went on to reveal an experience in his first year as a professional with Canterbury back in 2000 that helped build his mental fortitude required to overcome the hearty Irish performance.

"My first year playing rugby, I was in a Canterbury team with Todd Blackadder defending the [Ranfurly] Shield. We were down 29-12 with 15 to go and just thought the game was over, and he just said 'Nah, we'll win this boys', and he believed.

"From that point on, I've always thought to myself when it gets tough, you've got to remember they're feeling the pressure as well, and keep believing.

"That experience I've always held with me, and today, you just had to hang in there. When they missed that penalty with a few minutes to go, we had out chance, and we took it."