Johnny Sexton: Ireland carrying no mental baggage into latest quarter-final

FULL STEAM AHEAD: Ireland’s Johnny Sexton is targeting victory over New Zealand Pic: David Davies/PA

Johnny Sexton is adamant that this Ireland team will carry no mental baggage into their World Cup quarter-final clash with the All Blacks at the weekend.

Ireland have reached seven quarter-finals, and one quarter-final play-off over the course of the first nine tournaments stretching back to the inaugural event in 1987 and failed to make it to the last four on any of those occasions.

It is an unwanted and embarrassing record that has raised its head time and again in this latest cycle, and more so this week as the knockout game in Stade de France looms closer into view against the three-time champions.

“We’ve worked on our mental game for the last four years,” said the captain. “We’ve put ourselves in different scenarios over the last four years to prepare for this. But each quarter-final that we haven’t got through, or when we haven’t got through our pool, they’ve all been different and it’s a different group again.

“Each of those groups lost once, it wasn’t the same group losing quarter-finals year after year. If it was club rugby it would probably be a bigger hurdle, but it’s a different group. I don’t think we’re carrying much baggage. It’s a one-off game and we’ve got to prepare for it now.” 

With no New Zealand media on the agenda for Wednesday, Sexton was alongside head coach Andy Farrell for a media briefing that drew an inordinate amount of the Kiwi press and that inevitably brought a different tone and angle to the proceedings.

One journalist went as far as to tell Sexton that he would be in line to be ranked as the “greatest fly-half” to have ever played the game if he added a World Cup title to his considerable list of honours to date.

The 38-year-old gave a quizzical look at that point but this would inarguably be the last missing piece of the jigsaw for him before winding up one of the most spectacular careers in the history of the modern game.

“Trying to win a World Cup, it's something to go and get, it's not something that puts pressure on me, it's something you dream of. Probably not as a kid because when we were kids we didn't dream of Ireland winning the World Cup.

“I suppose we've put ourselves in a position now to go and do that. But it's something to go and get, it's not something to be pressured about. I haven't thought about my career, to be honest, I'll think about it more when I finish.

“It's all geared up towards a massive game on Saturday, a massive challenge for this team, the biggest we've faced, and we're looking forward to it.” Beating the All Blacks at this tournament would be a prize in itself.

Ireland have shattered many preconceptions and unwanted records this last ten years but they have never beaten New Zealand at a World Cup. The last meeting was a heavy beating at their hands in Tokyo four years ago.

What was once a one-sided arrangement has morphed into one of the game’s biggest and best rivalries but Sexton, who played back in the days when the men in green were more accustomed to shipping nothing but punishing losses, isn’t seeing it through that prism.

“I haven’t thought once about what personally the game means. It’s all about the team and progressing in the competition, that’s all we’re thinking about. It’s not anything personal. I’ve had some great battles with New Zealand over the years with Ireland and the Lions.

“What you learn is that every game is as tough as the last, no matter what the result, and that’s what we’re preparing for: the toughest game we’ve ever faced, and we’re trying to put ourselves in the frame of mind that we’re going to be ready for it.” 

If there is an air of familiarity between the two camps after so much mutual game time in the recent past then that is amplified by the presence of former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt in the opposition camp this last year and more.

Schmidt came on board in an emergency capacity during Ireland’s 2-1 series win in New Zealand last year but has been an official member of Ian Foster’s backroom staff since then and his stamp on the team has been obvious.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Sexton. “I think you can see evidence of Joe’s coaching through the team. They’ve made big strides over the last 12 months and I know they’ve a different forwards coach as well [Jason Ryan] from when we were there.

“So they’ve made big strides. I know it’s very much a different team we’re playing against. They’ve said it themselves, they’re a very different team. It’s a big challenge. Joe knows us well, we know him well, but Joe doesn’t get to make any tackles or run any lines at the weekend.

“So we just have to worry about the players we’re playing against and not too much about him but the legacy he left in Irish rugby is massive. His record here is outstanding and so we’ll look forward to having a beer with him after the game.”