QUARTER FINALLY

At last Sexton looks set to start World Cup knockout match..and he’s excited to be facing best in the game

EMOTIONS ran high as Ireland prepared for their World Cup quarter-final four years ago.

There was the intense high of beating France in an important final pool game and the sight of Johnny Sexton’s replacement Ian Madigan in tears after playing his part in securing the victory.

But that joy was tinged with the realisation of being without talismen

Paul O’connell, Johnny

Sexton, Sean O’brien,

Peter O’mahony and Jared

Payne for the Argentina last eight clash due to injury and suspension.

Sexton had suffered a groin injury but hoped to be ready to face the Pumas in Cardiff – a game Ireland eventually lost 43-20.

“I remember getting a scan and it was relatively clear – you bluff yourself into thinking, ‘This is OK’,” recalled the Leinster out-half, who also came off the bench for the 2011 quarter-final loss to Wales (below).

“I did the captain’s run – I think it was two days before the game – and it just wasn’t right. I went for another scan and the injury showed up. I was doing everything possible to try and get on the pitch but it just wasn’t to be.”

Ahead of Ireland’s next quarter-final mission against world champions New Zealand, Sexton insists they mean business.

He said: “This is where we always wanted to get to, where we feel that this is the little bit of history that we can make, getting Ireland into their first ever semi-final and then we can re-evaluate after that.

“New Zealand or South Africa, for us it was much the same. They pose different challenges but they’re both world class teams. We knew either fixture was going to be really tough. This is the one we’ve got and we’ve got to roll with it now and we’re looking forward to it.”

Sexton believes Ireland have earned “a little bit” of the All

Blacks’ respect by virtue of beating them twice in the sides’ last three encounters over the past four years.

But he added: “It’s all about how we can perform under their pressure. That’s going to be our big challenge, preparing unbelievably well to do that.

“We need to go out with that attacking mindset. You can’t sit back, the minute you sit back...

“We saw that in Chicago, we attacked, attacked, attacked and got a lead. We sat back for two minutes and they scored two tries and it was like, ‘OK, now we’ve got to attack again’.

“They play fast and quick, they’re ruthless in terms of not making many mistakes. When you have it, you really have to be good with it.”

ALL BLACKS boss Steve Hansen has kicked off the mind games ahead of the Tokyo showdown with Ireland – but Johnny Sexton still can’t wait for the biggest Test of his career. The 34-year-old has had to wait until this week to start a World Cup quarter-final - and wants his country to seize the chance. “Yeah, it’s the biggest,” Sexton declared. “And in that regard it is the most exciting. We said after beating Samoa, ‘No matter who we play, this is the biggest game of our lives’. You feel it straight away. You feel it when you wake up and your mind just goes straight to the game. Sleep will be a challenge this week.” Meanwhile, Hansen (left) has warned Joe Schmidt (inset) he could be undone if he tries too hard to outfox the Kiwis. Hansen said: “We’ve got weaknesses like everybody else so you’ve got to look at your them as much as anybody else’s. “You know that Joe does a lot of studies and that can be a strength and a weakness.”