Brian O'Driscoll finds his way blocked by the All Blacks defence © Getty Images

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Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll was left to rue what could have been after his side fell to an agonising 22-19 defeat to New Zealand in Christchurch.

A last-gasp drop goal from fly-half Dan Carter carried the All Blacks to a dramatic victory having been out-played for much of the contest by the tourists who had been thrashed 42-10 in last weekend's first Test in Auckland.

Ireland had raced into a 10-0 first-half lead thanks to a try from scrum-half Conor Murray, but had to rely on the boot of Jonathan Sexton to get them back on level terms in the second half. However, Ireland looked favourites to score an upset when New Zealand lost Israel Dagg to the sin bin late in the game only fo Carter to strike and wrap up the series.

"I'm gutted all right," O'Driscoll told Sky Sports 2. "We got back on level terms and to concede the way we did is disappointing. Our performance was massively improved from last week and I'm very proud of the lads.

"We let ourselves down in the first Test and we spoke about that, we spoke about the jersey and concentrating on our own game, but the scoreline still says an All Blacks win which is difficult to take considering the effort we put in."

Understandably, New Zealand skipper Richie McCaw was relieved to get away with the win after a lacklustre display from his side. "It was a typical old arm wrestle," he said. "We made mistakes, let them get momentum and that went against us. We gave the ball away but at the end we`re happy to get away with a win.

"We didn`t match Ireland how we wanted. We made mistakes and these guys make you play. We have got things to work on, but we recovered our composure, forced a mistake and got the win."