IRELAND v WALES
RORY KEANE AND HUGH FARRELLY ON THE HUGE SHOWDOWN
‘I like to think I’ve learnt good lessons from my mistakes’ ‘For the team, the build-up is so different’
IN a torrid year which was punctuated with low points, March 16 in Cardiff remains a particularly harrowing memory for Johnny Sexton.
There were many traumas to endure throughout 2019 for this Ireland squad, but that hammering at the hands of Wales on the final day of the Six Nations still stings.
Not much went Joe Schmidt’s way last year and, fittingly, when Ireland’s head coach insisted that the Principality Stadium roof remain open for their clash with Wales, it duly poured from the heavens.
Ireland were duly swept away in the deluge and were trailing 25-0 with the clock in the red. Jordan Larmour’s late try avoiding the ignominy of being held scoreless. Small mercies on a horrible day.
Sexton was sitting in the stands by then having been subbed off for Jack Carty. The Welsh supporters were in party mode with a Grand Slam sealed. The portents of doom ahead of the World Cup would prove accurate for the men in green.
That’s all in the past now. Wales arrive in Dublin this weekend with a new coach, new players and a new outlook.
Sexton and his team-mates would like to think they are a totally different animal as well. A lot of lessons were learned in Cardiff that day. It could be deja vu come kick-off time again, however, if Storm Ciara arrives as expected.
‘Last year proved some of the worst conditions I’ve ever played in and it was like karma for keeping the roof open but, yeah, we will be prepared,’ Sexton said yesterday.
‘Obviously the weather is changing a lot, one day (the forecast says) it was going to be horrific, now it is clearing up a bit, so we will wait until Saturday morning and see what it will be like. But, yeah, the start of the game is always important. Last year we gave them, well we didn’t give them, they took a seven-point lead and then a soft penalty from me for sealing off a ruck, 10-0, and then another soft penalty, 13-0, and suddenly... and we had a couple of chances to score at the start of the game as well, so yeah, massive in the conditions.’
Sexton is the dominant voice in this squad now. The veteran Leinster out-half has succeeded Rory Best as captain and led his country out at Ireland HQ for the first time last weekend.
‘I enjoyed it, the build-up was different,’ he said.
‘I suppose the one thing for all of us is the build-up is so different. We have been so set in the buildup to international rugby over the last number of years with Joe (Schmidt) and everything has changed and we are trying to do different things. We used to meet up four hours before the game and now we meet up two hours before. So everything was new for me, new with the captaincy.’ As well as his 19-point haul against the Scots, including that crucial first-half try, we saw a calmer version of Sexton, particularly in his exchanges with Mathieu Raynal. He needed plenty of patience that evening considering the French referee’s pedantic and inconsistent approach.
Sexton has worked with some brilliant captains in the past and has sought their advice in recent times, including Paul O’Connell.
‘He told me about one time when he was playing against the Ospreys and Romain Poite was reffing,’ he explained.
‘He took his gum shield out and he had no teeth in and he spits through his teeth when he (speaks). Paulie looks angry at the best of times, even when he’s happy. And he was just standing over Romain. What he was saying was probably perfectly acceptable but the way it looked and the way Romain felt was probably not quite right.
‘Everyone makes mistakes in different parts of their game or leadership and I’ve made plenty over the years but I’d like to think I’ve learnt some good lessons.’
There are new voices throughout this squad now. The likes of Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose and Iain Henderson have been promoted to the senior leadership while James Ryan, a rookie in this squad not so long ago, is becoming a leader of the pack.
‘Guys rarely come in at 21, 22 years of age and start talking straight away because they’re a bit nervous around senior players or a bit nervous around the environment because they’re not quite used to it,’ said Sexton.
‘They just go out and do their business and get respect that way and they’ve got the respect now and there are other guys in the leadership group that are of a younger profile than me, for example, and it’s good. It’s what Ireland needs.
‘Tadhg’s got a great rugby brain, for a prop! He has a great rugby brain.
‘He’s one of a kind in that regard, in terms of being a tighthead prop and having an ability to know what’s happening in the game, even though his head is stuck in scrums and rucks.
‘Off the pitch, he’s got his finger on the pulse, in terms of knowing the mood of the group. He’s been outstanding since he’s gone in there. It’s been good for him.’
It all sounds very positive. Sexton and Co have been talking a good game in recent times. We will know how far they have come by Saturday evening.