Until replacement players, prop Tamaiti Williams (61 minutes) and flanker Wallace Sititi (66 minutes) scored, it had been an indifferent display from an All Blacks team who struggled through the first three quarters to find their rhythm and continuity.
And then, four minutes from the end, halfback Cam Roigard, who had been well contained until that point, used a five-metre scrum to advantage to sidestep his way over the line to score.
Patience, backed by sound defence, brought its reward for the All Blacks.
Their recovery began when Ireland's fullback, Jamie Osborne, dropped the ball in a promising attacking situation. The ball was cleared downfield in the resulting play, and man-of-the-match lock Fabian Holland, who stepped up in the absence of Scott Barrett from the second minute, held covering Ireland first five-eighths Jack Crowley in the tackle.
The All Blacks advanced to the line and won a penalty. Hooker Codie Taylor took a tap and fed Sititi, who charged within millimetres, and from the ruck it was Williams who drove over to claim the lead for the first time.
Play started to open up for the All Blacks, and when Damian McKenzie joined the fray as replacement fullback, it wasn't long before he and Beauden Barrett combined in a play that saw McKenzie into space before passing inside to Sititi, who ran in the try.
Ireland began to concede penalties, and the All Blacks made them pay as they got into and took advantage of consistent try-scoring positions. Given their fourth-quarter woes in the past season and a half, it was a positive outcome for the All Blacks, who took their time to find a way to win.
Ireland were touted as being under-prepared as a result of not having played since the Six Nations in March, but it was the All Blacks who looked out of sorts during a perplexing first half.
The loss of skipper and lock Scott Barrett in the second minute, at the same time as brother and first five-eighths Beauden Barrett was the victim of a marginal head shot that saw Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne initially yellow-carded, only to see it upgraded to a red card, caused early disruption for the All Blacks.
The situation was not helped by the fact that referee Pierre Brousset was unable to view the incident on the big screen at the ground, taking an unacceptable several minutes for a decision to be made.
Then, after 15 minutes, second five-eighths Jordie Barrett was forced to leave the field with a leg injury.
While reduced to 14, Ireland found the greater cohesion, inspired by halfback Jamison Gibson-Park, whose box and line-kicking, and passing, were outstanding to clear the Irish line while also putting the All Blacks' defence under pressure. He was complemented by strong-running second five-eighths Stuart McCloskey, who several times got over the advantage line.
Flanker Josh van der Flier was competitive at the breakdown, where Ardie Savea was kept busy to counter him, even with the unexpected captaincy thrust on him with Barrett's departure.
Crowley was a steady hand and opened the scoring with a sixth-minute penalty goal. But in the 15th minute, his kick to the corner created a lineout chance, where strong runs by van der Flier and hooker Dan Sheehan took the ball forward for prop Tadhg Furlong to charge over for the opening try.
The All Blacks responded immediately. Leicester Fainga'anuku replaced Jordie Barrett and made an early impression with the ball by putting fullback Will Jordan into space before he was tackled. Roigard threw a long pass to prop Ethan de Groot. He linked with replacement lock Josh Lord and flanker Simon Parker to give a perfect ball for Savea to run in at the corner – a try that highlighted All Blacks' skills to the full.
But they didn't appear too often during the half, where lineouts and scrums were a mish-mash for both sides.
The All Blacks stood firm and completed the first step in their Grand Slam attempt.
All Blacks: 26 (Ardie Savea, Tamaiti Williams, Wallack Sititi tries; Beauden Barrett 3 con) Ireland: 13 (Tadgh Furlong tries; Jack Crowley con, 2 pen). HT: 7-10
