Composure under pressure and taking opportunities at key moments were the cornerstones to Ireland's victory over New Zealand, according to head coach Andy Farrell.

James Lowe, Rónan Kelleher and man of the match Caelan Doris crossed the try line for Ireland in a 29-20 victory, with replacement Joey Carbery coolly slotting over three penalties after the visitors engineered a comeback into the game.

It wasn’t enough however for New Zealand as Ireland made it two wins from two in the November internationals to maintain their upward curve.

For head coach Farrell, it was vindication of sticking to the plan.

"I wanted us to make sure we stayed disciplined," he told RTÉ Sport. "I thought just before half-time we lost a little bit of that. We were going off our feet a little bit and [conceded] a few penalties because of it, but we refocused at half-time.

"We stayed nice and calm and the plan was executed nicely. We were brave to back it up as well."

There were a number of moments that were of significance with the game in the melting pot – James Lowe and Peter O’Mahony raising the roof with big turnovers in particular – but it was the positive display from the first whistle that pleased Farrell as much as anything.

"We asked the boys to bring enough moments to the crowd to get them on song, and that was right throughout the game and it certainly helped us in the last 10 minutes.

"We wanted to back ourselves today and see where we are at. It’s a nice performance and we get the victory to go with it."

We'll soak this up tonight and enjoy it, but the main thing is to be consistent again next week

The players could be forgiven for wanting to celebrate such a scalp, but five years after a first-ever win over the All Blacks, it could be more low-key affair, especially with Argentina coming to town next weekend to round off the international window.

"We’ll soak this up tonight and enjoy it, but the main thing is to be consistent again next week. Argentina are a good side, nice and strong and physical and we’ll get back to work next week."