HOW TO MAKE sense of that one? Ireland notched a bonus-point win at Twickenham. They scored their most points ever at this venue and won by their biggest margin ever here.
They kept themselves in the title hunt even if France are favourites to complete a Grand Slam next weekend. There’s definitely a Triple Crown on offer for Ireland against Scotland next weekend in Dublin. That’s the good stuff.
The bad? Ireland’s scrum was taken apart and they struggled at times against 14-man England, having to wait until late in the game to seal the deal. They looked shaky as Eddie Jones’ side drew back to 15-15 with 20 minutes to go amid a feral atmosphere in London.
And yet get over the line Ireland did. That’s the message they were keen to transmit after this 32-15 victory. There is a huge amount to improve upon, of course, but they had the mettle to get exactly what they needed after looking like they could crumble.
“Two years ago, we would have lost that game,” said captain Johnny Sexton post-match at Twickenham.
“At 15-15, we wouldn’t have had the composure to regroup, but the mental skills development that we’ve done over the last couple of years really stood to us. Even in the week, we prepared for things like this.
Advertisement
“That the positive out of it. What do you learn? When things can distract you like a team going to 14 men, you need to focus on doing the basics really well.
“At times, we just forced a couple of things. Those things were on so it was probably execution more than decision-making. At other times, we didn’t play. We tried to kick the ball or didn’t shift it to the edge where the space was.
“There’s a lot to take out of it and we’ll build towards next week now.
“We have a chance to win a Triple Crown chance at home in the Aviva, we very rarely have had a chance to play for something in front of our home crowd. Often when we have, it’s been away from home.
“There’s a big week ahead of us but we’ll learn plenty. It will be all focused on Scotland now.”
Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Head coach Andy Farrell was similarly pleased with how Ireland pulled through after a scare from the 14-man English.
“I’m over the moon,” said Farrell. “If you said this before the game, we would have snatched your hand off.
“It’s a tough place to come and we were under a bit of pressure in that second half for a while, and some of that was our own doing, but the composure that we showed at 15-15 to stick to our task and come away with the bonus-point was something we should be immensely proud of.
“We learned a lot about ourselves. We’ve been here before and been under pressure. Different aspects of our game have not gone well before and the game has run away with itself, and we’ve been on an early flight back.
“This time around, the crowd were behind them, momentum was going their way, and sometimes when you’ve got 14 men, you’ve got nothing to lose. Sometimes when you’ve got 15 men playing against 14 men, you’ve got everything to lose.
“We became a little bit desperate at times and a little bit inaccurate at times, but having said that, you take the rough with the smooth. We came away with a brilliant victory in the end.
“I thought the lads were really calm while under pressure, stayed on task, and thoroughly deserved that bonus point in the end.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
12 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Johnny Sexton: 'Two years ago, we would have lost that game'
HOW TO MAKE sense of that one? Ireland notched a bonus-point win at Twickenham. They scored their most points ever at this venue and won by their biggest margin ever here.
They kept themselves in the title hunt even if France are favourites to complete a Grand Slam next weekend. There’s definitely a Triple Crown on offer for Ireland against Scotland next weekend in Dublin. That’s the good stuff.
The bad? Ireland’s scrum was taken apart and they struggled at times against 14-man England, having to wait until late in the game to seal the deal. They looked shaky as Eddie Jones’ side drew back to 15-15 with 20 minutes to go amid a feral atmosphere in London.
And yet get over the line Ireland did. That’s the message they were keen to transmit after this 32-15 victory. There is a huge amount to improve upon, of course, but they had the mettle to get exactly what they needed after looking like they could crumble.
“Two years ago, we would have lost that game,” said captain Johnny Sexton post-match at Twickenham.
“At 15-15, we wouldn’t have had the composure to regroup, but the mental skills development that we’ve done over the last couple of years really stood to us. Even in the week, we prepared for things like this.
“That the positive out of it. What do you learn? When things can distract you like a team going to 14 men, you need to focus on doing the basics really well.
“At times, we just forced a couple of things. Those things were on so it was probably execution more than decision-making. At other times, we didn’t play. We tried to kick the ball or didn’t shift it to the edge where the space was.
“There’s a lot to take out of it and we’ll build towards next week now.
“We have a chance to win a Triple Crown chance at home in the Aviva, we very rarely have had a chance to play for something in front of our home crowd. Often when we have, it’s been away from home.
“There’s a big week ahead of us but we’ll learn plenty. It will be all focused on Scotland now.”
Head coach Andy Farrell was similarly pleased with how Ireland pulled through after a scare from the 14-man English.
“I’m over the moon,” said Farrell. “If you said this before the game, we would have snatched your hand off.
“It’s a tough place to come and we were under a bit of pressure in that second half for a while, and some of that was our own doing, but the composure that we showed at 15-15 to stick to our task and come away with the bonus-point was something we should be immensely proud of.
“We learned a lot about ourselves. We’ve been here before and been under pressure. Different aspects of our game have not gone well before and the game has run away with itself, and we’ve been on an early flight back.
“This time around, the crowd were behind them, momentum was going their way, and sometimes when you’ve got 14 men, you’ve got nothing to lose. Sometimes when you’ve got 15 men playing against 14 men, you’ve got everything to lose.
“We became a little bit desperate at times and a little bit inaccurate at times, but having said that, you take the rough with the smooth. We came away with a brilliant victory in the end.
“I thought the lads were really calm while under pressure, stayed on task, and thoroughly deserved that bonus point in the end.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Six Nations England Ireland Johnny Sexton mental skills