Despite coming into the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals as the sport’s No. 1 side and on the back of a 17-game winning streak, Johnny Sexton says he expects Saturday’s encounter with New Zealand to be the biggest challenge Ireland have ever taken on.
Ireland secured their place in the last eight with an emphatic 36-14 victory over Scotland to make it four wins from four in Pool B and set up a last-eight showdown with the All Blacks.
At 38, Sexton has enjoyed his fair share of encounters against the Kiwis and was part of the Ireland team that won a series in New Zealand for the first time last year.
However, the fly-half admitted the All Blacks pose a very “different” threat now to then.
“I’ve had some great battles against New Zealand over the years,” Sexton said. “What you learn is that every game is as tough as the last no matter what the result is.
“We’re preparing for the toughest game we’ve ever faced and we’re trying to put ourselves in a frame of mind that we’re going to be ready for it.”
One of the key changes New Zealand have made recently has been to add former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt to Ian Foster’s coaching staff.
Schmidt led Ireland to three Six Nations triumphs, including a Grand Slam in 2018, and Sexton can see hallmarks of the 58-year-old’s style on the New Zealand that have turned up in France looking to win a fourth world crown.
“You can see evidence of Joe’s coaching through the team,” Sexton added. “They’ve made big strides over the last 12 months and I know they have a different forwards coach [Jason Ryan] as well from when we were there.
“We know that it’s very much a different team that we’re playing against. They’ve said it themselves. It’s a big challenge.
“Joe doesn’t get to make any tackles or run any lines at the weekend. We just have to worry about the players we are playing against and not too much about him.”
Not only do the Irish contingent have to worry about the men in black, but they also have to contend with the weight of history. In seven previous attempts, Ireland have yet to win a Rugby World Cup quarter-final.
Sexton, who is set to bring the curtain down on his 17-year career at the end of this tournament, brushed that off as inconsequential to this new breed of Irish talent.
“We’ve worked on our mental game for the past four years and put ourselves in different scenarios to prepare for this.
“Each quarter-final that we’ve haven’t got through, or we haven’t got through our pool, they’ve all been different, and it’s a different group again.
“Each of those groups lost once. It wasn’t the same group losing quarter-finals year after year.
“If it was club rugby it would probably be a bigger hurdle. I don’t think we’ve carrying much baggage. It’s a one-off game we’re preparing for now.
“Trying to win a World Cup…it’s something to go and get. It’s not something to be pressured about.”
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