We have learned what we can do under pressure
CJ ADMITS LATE PARIS WIN IS GOOD EXPERIENCE
WHEN the All Blacks beat South Africa in a classic 2015 World Cup semi-final, Steve Hansen claimed a last-minute win in Dublin two years earlier was key.
The New Zealand coach pointed to that 24-22 victory in November 2013 as a big reason why they overcame the Springboks to set up a successful shot at winning the William Webb Ellis trophy.
“We’ve had moments where we had to keep that self-belief,” said Hansen. “And I can think of one against Ireland.
“In those moments it’s just about the process, ‘What have we got to do right now? What do we do next?’. And it becomes the norm.”
The question for Ireland now is can they emulate the All Blacks? Can they use their last-gasp victory over France last Saturday to go on to bigger and better things in this year’s Six Nations and beyond?
CJ Stander believes what took place in Paris – the 41 phases late on that culimated in Johnny Sexton’s winning drop goal – amounts to invaluable experience banked by Joe Schmidt’s men.
“You look back on that and see what you can do when you’re under pressure,” said Stander. “A lot of players who haven’t been in that position will have learned a lot from that game.
“To get the win was great to celebrate but if you go back into it, there’s a lot of small battles we didn’t win, a few breakdowns and set pieces we needed to win at some stages.
“We want to be the best so we want to fix those small things.”
The mood ahead of Saturday’s clash against Italy is so much brighter than it would have been if Ireland had not come up with those five minutes of brilliance.
Instead of talk about playing catch-up to England and Wales, there is real optimism about what can be achieved now.
But for now Schmidt’s side must steer clear of complacency against the Italians who leaked 46 points at home to England.
“They’ve got a good team,” Stander (left) insisted. “They showed at some stages that they can punish teams and they scored two good tries.
“You never know what they’re going to bring. They have put us under pressure in previous years so you concentrate on yourself and don’t get ahead of yourself.”