‘Two victories and we’ll be right back in it’

– Ireland star Johnny Sexton believes a stunning World Cup defeat by Japan could yet prove to be a “blessing in disguise” because it took place during the group stages.

Fly-half Sexton missed Saturday’s shock with a thigh injury and could only watch helplessly as tournament hosts Japan won 19-12 to throw Pool A wide open.

But the playmaker, who featured in Ireland’s opening 27-3 win over Scotland, took heart from the fact that his side can still get their campaign back on track.

Sexton contrasted Ireland’s current position with the past two World Cups, where they eased through the pool phase only to suffer quarterfinal defeats by Wales and Argentina in 2011 and 2015 respectively.

“The only blessing in disguise is that in the last two World Cups I’ve been involved in, we’ve not cruised through the group, but we’ve had everything go our way in the pool stages,” Sexton told reporters in Kobe yesterday.

“And then we’ve had the day we had yesterday in the quarterfinal. And we’d be going home today.

“So the great thing now is that we’ve got the rest of the pool to get things together.”

Matters are still in Irish hands, Sexton said, if they can beat Russia and Samoa and score a healthy number of tries.

Ireland need “two big performances” to get to the knockout stages. “And we know that if we can get there, we’ve got a chance.”

Sexton said they had a proven ability to bounce back from defeat, noting that Ireland had been battered 57-15 by England and then beaten Wales twice before impressing in their opening win against Scotland. – AFP