Sexton and Ireland are relishing the prospect of their weekend trip to Paris
watch from home ahead of a daunting trip to the French capital.
Sexton is braced for one of the ‘biggest tests in world rugby’, but he and his team-mates can be pleased with their four-try thumping of Wales.
‘The win and the bonus-point,’ the Ireland captain said, when asked what pleased him most about this impressive opening-round performance.
‘I can’t tell you how demoralising it is… last year you go back to the first game (against Wales) and you’re sitting in the dressing room with nothing to show for all your efforts.
‘Triple Crown gone, Grand Slam gone, up against it to win a championship.
‘That’s what we’re most pleased about. We feel there was plenty of stuff to brush up on for next week because France away is arguably one of the biggest tests in world rugby.
‘We need to be at our best and learn lessons from today, even in victory.
‘I think we did that well in November and hopefully we continue in that vein.’
Ireland’s record in Paris in this tournament makes for grim reading, with just three wins recorded on French soil since 1972.
Sexton has been involved in two of those triumphs, however.
The Leinster out-half propelled Ireland to a Six Nations title with a two-try showing in 2014 and followed up by nailing a long-range drop-goal to leave the hosts stunned in 2018.
And, with this young Ireland squad in a rich vein of form,
Sexton is relishing the looming French challenge.
‘There’s always been confidence in the group, even when times were low after the first two games of the Six Nations last year.
‘We weren’t too far away and thankfully we turned things around results-wise, but you’re never confident about going over to Paris because it’s a hard place to go.
‘You are confident in the group and confident that if we play our very best, we can win.
‘That’s what we need to get out of ourselves this week, get our prep right, look after ourselves recovery-wise, and put our best performance out there to see where it gets us.’
Wales were set to be nilled for the first time in the history of the Six Nations before Taine Basham’s late consolation try, but Farrell hailed the defensive contribution of his players.
‘People are talking about the way we’re playing the game at the moment but the best part of our game by a country mile is our defence,’ the Ireland head coach said.
Connacht’s breakout star
Mack Hansen impressed on his debut, with the 23-year-old setting up Aki for the opening try of the game.
The Australian-born wing was named man of the match after an eye-catching display on his first game for Ireland and
Hansen heaped praise on Farrell’s influence in recent weeks.
‘He said something to me that really stuck with me, he said, “if you can’t be yourself, there’s no point putting on the jersey”.
‘When Andy says something like that it sticks with you.
‘Just go out there and enjoy yourself, that’s all you do at the end of the day.’
Ireland reported a clean bill of health after the game, while Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw are set to come back into the selection reckoning this week.