Sexton tells Irish to finish tour with a bang
JOHNNY SEXTON says Ireland intend to sign off for the summer with their ‘best performance of the season’ as they seek to claim a landmark series win in New Zealand. The Irish rewrote the record books with last weekend’s maiden away victory over the All Blacks and are now aiming to make more history today in Wellington. Skipper Sexton celebrated his 37th birthday on Monday and is poised to move level with Paul O’Connell as his country’s fifth most-capped player by making his 108th Test appearance. Ireland will leapfrog France to the top of the world rankings with a win at Sky Stadium, albeit the Kiwis have not lost a home series since 1994. ‘The group are in good spirits, gearing up for a massive game,’ said the fly-half. ‘We’re really looking forward to it. It’s a great place to be; creating a little bit of history last week but now we’ve got a chance to do something a little bit bigger and a little bit more special. ‘All the boys are just concentrating on getting our best performance of the season out there and see where that leaves us.’ Ireland won 23-12 in Dunedin last Saturday to cancel out a 42-19 drubbing in the Auckland opener. Sexton, who needs six more points to reach 1,000 in a green jersey, hopes to lead another performance worthy of making the country proud. ‘It’s something we speak about all the time, the people back home watching, whether it’s family, friends,’ he said. ‘Hopefully, we can do them proud.’ All Blacks full-back Jordie Barrett is confident his side can bounce back to secure series success after a week of soul-searching. ‘It is our turn to respond now,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘We feel a lot of it is in our control and we can influence this match. We don’t have a second chance this week.’ New Zealand have made four personnel changes. Lock Sam Whitelock and tighthead prop Nepo Laulala have been recalled to Ian Foster’s forward pack, with winger Will Jordan and centre David Havili fit to start following recent positive Covid tests. Kick-off: 8.05am, Sky Stadium. TV: on Sky Sports Main Event.