5 November 2016 – a date that marks another milestone in the annals of Irish sport.
Ireland’s first ever test win against the mighty All Blacks in the Windy City of Chicago was indeed a stirring effort by all involved, with Joe Schmidt’s side victorious on a 40-29 scoreline, producing many fireworks in the process on what was Guy Fawkes Day.
Needless to say Schmidt was beaming with pride afterwards as he reflected on the collective effort that saw those in green banish the memory of that heartbreaking defeat to New Zealand three years ago.
"There was a heck of a lot of emotional energy that went in to that win and some good organisation that the players committed to," he told RTÉ Sport.
"When you get a win like that after waiting so long, and after the frustrations of three years ago when we were so close, well it's just fantastic.
"I looked up at the crowd at one stage and Paul O'Connell was pumping his fist as delighted as any man – compare that to his disappointment of three years ago."
All round, the Irish coach felt it was a "special" evening.
"It was a great team performance. It was hard to find anyone who did not contribute fully. I'm just really proud of them," he continued.
"I felt up front we were unbelievably good today - Rory Best, Jack McGrath, Tadhg Furlong.
"Tadhg did a couple of unbelievable things - put in a big hit at one point and you thought to yourself this could be a special day.
"Guys were doing things that were a little bit special, The tight five were immense. CJ Stander was fantastic. Jamie [Heaslip] had a flat patch at one stage because I thought he had run himself into the ground - but the man has got so much in reserve that seemed to come from somewhere. He finished the game really strongly.
"Josh van der Flier just didn't know when to give up. He went hard after the ball and hard after them.
"It allowed us to dictate a fair bit of the game especially in the first half. We saw Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton at the peak of their powers. Rob Kearney, his footwork to get through close to the line to set up the first try, which CJ Stander finished off.
"And then you had fantastic stuff from Simon Zebo and Andrew Trimble."
