Bundee Aki on Saturday scored a try on his return from suspension to help Ireland beat Australia 13-10 and secure a record-equaling 12th home Test success at Lansdowne Road despite missing talismanic captain Johnny Sexton.
A late penalty by Ross Byrne separated the two sides in a dramatic climax to an Autumn Nations Series match littered with errors.
The Irish are to enter the Rugby World Cup year ranked No. 1 in the world and are the first team since England in 2002 to defeat the All Blacks, the Springboks and the Wallabies in a calendar year.
Photo: AP
England went on to win the World Cup in 2003, but based on this performance the Irish must up their game significantly to even make the semi-finals for the first time.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the win,” Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said. “We found a way and that’s what good sides do when they’re not at their best. We weren’t at our best for all sorts of reasons, things that we can address.”
“We found a bit of luck, but we came out on the right side and we roll onto the Six Nations,” he added.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧?Wales 12, Georgia 13
‧?Italy 21, South Africa 63
‧?Scotland 52, Argentina 29
‧?England 25, New Zealand 25
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