Johnny Sexton relishing test against 'unique' Springboks

EYES ON THE PRIZE: Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton is relishing the opportunity for his side to test themselves against South Africa. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Johnny Sexton is preparing his Ireland team for a unique challenge in the shape of world champions South Africa this Saturday and that is just the way the captain wants it as he continues to drive standards with next September’s World Cup firmly in mind.

Saturday’s clash at a sold-out Aviva Stadium is a first between the two sides since a beleaguered Springboks visited Dublin in 2017 and were hammered 38-3 by Sexton and company under Joe Schmidt. This time around they will meet as the top dogs in the World Rugby rankings. Ireland host the holders of the Webb Ellis Cup, less than 11 months out from what could be a pivotal France 2023 pool meeting.

Their journeys to this point since that last meeting have been markedly different as the Boks regenerated under Rassie Erasmus and won the World Cup in 2019, then with Jacques Nienaber at the helm scored a series win over the British & Irish Lions. In that same period Ireland reached the rankings summit, bombed at that same World Cup and have become reborn under the stewardship of Andy Farrell as Sexton has led his fast-developing squad back to number one status courtesy of an epic series win in New Zealand.

While South Africa’s resurrection has come with a return to their well-scripted forward-oriented dominance of old and the availability once again of their best players, Ireland’s turnaround has been underpinned by a shift to a more expansive, player-powered gameplan fuelled by the exacting drive for improvement demanded by head coach and captain and on Tuesday the latter reiterated the importance of this Saturday’s match as the next important challenge in that mission.

“Every Test match you play, you want to win,” Sexton said. “That goes without saying. How you do it is the most important thing and that’s …you’ve got to play well, you’ve got to go out and try to score tries against a pretty tough defensive team, a team that comes off the line higher and a team that tries to make life as difficult as possible for you to put you under big pressure.

“So, it will be a very different test to what we had in the summer (against the All Blacks). You know, obviously we referred to the summer series as the biggest test you can face in rugby. It is in many ways. But it is a different test coming this Saturday.

“If we want to do special things over the next 18 months we’ve got to beat different teams playing different games and they are very different to New Zealand. They are almost unique. They are the nearest team to England maybe in terms of how they play. It will be tough.” 

Head coach Farrell last week compared the challenge facing Ireland to last season’s Six Nations away game in Paris, when many in his young team were exposed for the first time to a hostile Test crowd at Stade de France and an ultra-physical home side at both the breakdown and the scrum.

Asked if he liked playing teams like that, Sexton replied: “I prefer playing teams that are easier, to be honest,” before adding: “You want to test yourself, and this is up there with the biggest test you can have in international rugby, the world champions at home, full house, pressure on. You want to test yourself and this is a big test.” 

The 37-year-old fly-half also drew another comparison when he recalled his first meeting against South Africa in 2009 at Croke Park, when as a 24-year-old winning just his second cap a week after his Test debut against Fiji, he kicked all the points in a 15-10 victory over the 2007 world champions.

“Croke Park, yeah. I remember the fog. I remember lining up a shot at goal and you could barely see the posts.

“That was a very similar fixture to this. They were coming as world champions, just after a Lions tour and having won that. It’s almost the identical fixture 13 years on. It’s mad to think I’m still going but that’s all I remember from that game really. I remember obviously being very nervous. I remember looking at guys like Victor Matfield… and going ‘Do I belong on this pitch?’ 

“I was very new to the stage, but I loved it and it gave me the drive to go on and play more games for Ireland.” 

If their 2009 predecessors carried an air of mystery into battle against a young Sexton, the 2022 Springboks are altogether less mysterious to a man set to win his 109th Ireland cap this Saturday having repeatedly locked horns with the South African franchises for the past two seasons in the BKT United Rugby Championship.

“What you learn is that it is very different watching them and actually getting out on the pitch and facing them, how physical they are, how fast they are, just athletically gifted, so that’s the first thing that stands out.

“So, yeah, we have had a taste of it this year, Leinster against the Sharks. It was a hell of a game for everyone to watch, was as enjoyable to play in. It was a good game, it really tested us. It gave us a glimpse into what it is going to be like but at the same time they had no Springboks playing for them in that game so it is going to be a level up from that again so it is a big test.

“It's good for us, the South African teams being in the URC has taken it to a new level, it is brilliant for everyone, it is brilliant for us especially and something that we are really enthusiastic about.”