Sexton salutes 'insane' Irish hordes who turned Stade de France green

While captain praises Ireland's fans, it was the resilience of the Ireland players that pleased head coach Andy Farrell most

ONE FOR THE GRAM: Ireland’s Johnny Sexton tales a selfie with fans after the game. Pic:INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Andy Farrell praised Ireland’s resilience to withstand South African pressure in helping his side edge a thrilling World Cup pool match in epic style on Saturday night. Meanwhile Johnny Sexton credited his team’s vast army of travelling supporters at Stade de France.

Ireland defeated the Springboks 13-8 to tighten their grip on pole position in Pool B with one remaining group game remaining, against Scotland back in Paris on Saturday, October 7.

They did so thanks a first-half try from Mack Hansen, converted by captain Johnny Sexton, to give Ireland a 7-3 half-time lead before the veteran fly-half added a penalty in the second period after Cheslin Kolbe had pushed South Africa into a 50th-minute lead. Sexton’s late replacement Jack Crowley sealed victory for the No.1 side in the world with a 76th-minute penalty to secure a second win over the defending world champions inside 10 months following a narrow November success in Dublin.

Yet it was also Ireland’s ability to problem solve on the hoof in front of a raucous and heavily Irish crowd of 78,542 that earned plaudits from their head coach. 

Farrell’s side had come under immense pressure from South Africa’s superb defensive lineout and a powerhouse scrum but managed to turn the tables on the 2019 World Cup winners to eke out the victory, assisted by a missed penalty and conversion from Manie Libbok plus two long-range penalty misses from scrum-half Faf de Klerk.

"Our resilience, which has been really good of late anyway, as you can imagine,” Farrell said of what gave him most satisfaction about the five-point win. “That was a proper game, a traditional game that had absolutely everything. There were ebbs and flows, ups and downs, and how we managed to stay on point mentally, I thought, was fantastic.

“The game was never going to be perfect. First half, I thought we had the rub of the green as far as field position is concerned and probably didn't capitalise on that a little bit. But it was certainly roles reversed in the second half and how we kept our heads, getting those couple of penalties at the end when it really mattered is the big plus side of our performance."

So too was Ireland’s support, certainly in excess of 40,000 fans, which turned Stade de France green and roared their side on through thick and thin.

"I've said that we've had some big days before in terms of results in the pool, but I've never, ever seen a crowd like that,” Sexton said. "Someone said there was 30,000 fans there, but there was no way it was 30,000. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was 60 and they were insane throughout and they gave us the lift that we needed.

"Honestly, it's not lost on us. We talk about it a lot, about inspiring those people that put their hand in their pocket week after week.

"They probably saved for four years to come here and it is something we refer to all the time and I mean that. We play for them and they gave us the edge tonight, so fair play to them.” 

 Farrell added: "It isn't just them, it is the people back home as well. We know that back home is being worked up into a frenzy, you know, and if that is a sign of things that we can get excited about going forward then what a lift that's going to give us.” 

 Sexton was asked what would be key to kicking on and sealing top spot in Pool B a fortnight from now against Scotland.

"I think we've had some big wins in pool stages before, that's right up there. When you play against the reigning world champions, it's always going to be incredibly tough and it was," said the veteran. 

“They didn't let us down in terms of the physicality of the game but I thought we fronted up and gave some good stuff ourselves in that regard.

“Yeah, it's right up there but we've got to make it count now. We've got some time off this week with the bye week, then we regroup and we've got to back it up against Scotland and make sure we do the business to get out of the pool."