Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'It was mad': Sexton's flashbacks of Lions tour before the chaotic swing in decider

(Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Johnny Sexton could only watch on as All Black wing Will Jordan took him on the outside and scorched away for an electric try that threatened to derail Ireland’s hopes of a historic victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

The pivotal moment clawed the All Blacks back to within three points at 25-22, which came moments after a long range penalty attempt by Sexton which hit the crossbar.

With minutes remaining under a yellow card, Sexton’s penalty goal attempt would have extended the lead to 28-17 while Ireland were down to 14 men, instead they were forced to regroup under their own goal posts with the All Blacks taking the momentum.

Video Spacer

All Blacks post-match press conference

Video Spacer

All Blacks post-match press conference

“I thought I had him for pace, yeah,” Sexton joked of trying to cover the breakaway by Jordan.

“You always doubt, but you have to have the mental skills to get back into the present, the moment. It was a big swing, wasn’t it?”

The Ireland captain revealed he had thoughts swirling from the second test from the 2017 Lions tour as he lined up the goal kick, comparing the moment to England flyhalf Owen Farrell’s game-clinching penalty from that night.

“For the ball to come off the crossbar like that. It was mad, I was actually thinking about Owen’s kick against the All Blacks to tie the [Lions] series from a similar spot,” he said.

“I just felt it was an important kick, and it came off the crossbar, I was gutted.

“It was a big swing but it just shows the character of the team, to be able to come back from that.

ADVERTISEMENT

“They’re the moments in previous years against New Zealand that would’ve swung the game. They are the fine margins we would have been talking about if we lost.”

At 25-22 the All Blacks were riding a wave of momentum following Jordan’s try, but Ireland were able to pull back control following Sexton’s restart.

A short kickoff by Sexton down the middle of the field was knocked on by David Havili, handing Ireland an attacking midfield scrum 30-metres out.

Ireland ran a blindside play where Bundee Aki burst through a tight gap to take Ireland down inside the five, before an Ardie Savea indiscretion at the ruck was penalised.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sexton said the decision to kick to the corner a second time was a credit to lock James Ryan, and the decision paid off with their second maul try of the game.

“We got a penalty straight away, a big call to go for the corner again and the lads backed it up, that was James Ryan,” Sexton said of the moment.

“He was on it tonight, a couple of times we talked about going for the three and he just said ‘no, go for the corner.’

“For him to show that leadership, it was a big step for him.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson explains the new halves pairing for the All Blacks ahead of France

More indecision and excuses from Razor.


You've given a spot at 6 to Finau whom you haven't even had the courage to use off the bench in the last two games. Now the young enforcer is going into a big much with no rugby, we should expect a similar result to how Aumua struggled to impact a game after he'd hardly been given any chances of the bench either.


Weve now dropped a back three player who also wasn't even given any game time off the bench for someone coming in cold when they really need to have been playing constantly to perform at their best. There are just so many better pictures that should have been present rather than this mickey mouse selection.


I really hope Finau can overcome this, it won't be the first time he's had to. How is the bench even made up? Could you not just have included these changes in the article as well? I actually like BB coming back in, it highlights how courageous he is after sitting out through another concussion that could just as easily sent him back into months of symptoms again.


Dmac was also off his game last week, as was Ratima, with the poor platform Razor and his team have been setting the players up with. He needs to freedom to clear his mind from the clutter that saw him make so many bad decisions last week. It will still probably be a net loss for the team performance not having him on from the start but it should be better for them in the long run if he's allowed to just come on late and play his game trying to claw things back for the team.


With Roigard starting that might prove an outlet for the team to actually get on top first however. Along with Ardie busting a gut in his new role and emptying the tank by halftime, and being replaced by another new star, might mean that Dmac is just icing on the cake at the end.

13 Go to comments
F
Flankly 1 hour ago
Jake White: If I was England coach, I’d have been livid

I am not an England fan, but still very disappointed at what Borthwick is serving up. Regardless of winning or losing, they should be executing the basics at a world class level. That was the reason they replaced Eddie with Steve. After two years England has not built the solid foundations that the RFU were presumably after. Its hard to see it as anything other than a coaching problem.


Having said that I really hope that Rassie has got his team fired up for the game. The Boks at maximum intensity and with no crises (eg red cards) would be expected to win this game. But it does not take much reduction in pressure for Bok teams to lose. The Boks lose when complacency sets in.


On Felix Jones, my guess is that they can't agree on a non-compete so they kept him on payroll for the duration of the Nov tests. The risk was that he would be hired by Rassie or Razor prior to the tests.


As relates to law tweaking, it feels like WR are more comfortable discussing changes in laws than insisting on implementation. For my money the biggest thing they could do is to be strict and consistent in officiating ruck behavior. In every game we see flopping, lazy lying, clearing of unbound players, making plays while off your feet, delays in placing the ball, side entry, offside line infringements, and similar nonsense. It's really really bad, and the WR attitude seems to be that we should turn a blind eye in pursuit of "flowing rugby". In truth it's just boring, because it randomizes the outcome.

11 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING ‘Not a huge surprise’: Michael Hooper on All Blacks’ win over Ireland ‘Not a huge surprise’: Michael Hooper on All Blacks’ win over Ireland
Search