IT’S ONLY MONDAY of Test week, and already the sense of anticipation has heightened.
It’s different when the All Blacks are in town. This is when the serious business starts, and the appearance of Johnny Sexton for the Monday afternoon media session confirms as much. He sets the tone, sets the scene.
“You can’t lie about it and say it’s just another game,” said the out-half, at the national team base at Carton House. “We’ve had it on our radar for a while, definitely.”
Sexton is set to win his 78th cap against the All Blacks. Source: James Crombie/INPHO
Subplots abound, but this week’s renewal of battle lines at the Aviva Stadium pits the world’s top two teams against each other. A head-to-head showdown in front of a capacity crowd, and under the Saturday night lights. Some are already calling it the Test of the year.
After breaking the seal in Chicago, Ireland are eyeing a famous first victory over New Zealand on home soil. These opportunities don’t come around too often. Sexton knows all about it.
“They’ve all been tough games, close games,” he continues. “We want to make the most of it and see where we are really. It has been two years since we’ve played them last but there has been a lot of changeover from our team.
“I think probably eight guys who played that day [in 2013] won’t play this week so it’s a big change from our point of view but we’re looking forward to seeing how far we’ve come in two years and where we are in the world really.”
Sexton was, of course, part of the history-making squad two Novembers ago now, the out-half scoring 10 points as Ireland ended an 111-year wait for a momentous victory, but equally he has been on the other end of an All Blacks lesson.
His overall record against the back-to-back world champions, for Ireland and the Lions, reads; played 11, lost eight, drawn one, won two.
“You do get a sort of feel for what you have to do to beat them but then you’ve got to go and do it. That’s the hardest part,” the World Player of the Year nominee explains.
“So we’ll have a great plan, we’ll have some experiences of what’s worked against them in the past, what hasn’t worked and where they are the most dangerous but then you’ve got to go out and implement it. Hopefully that gets you close at the end and then dog it out.”
Ireland know they’ll need to be at their best if they are to stand any chance.
“We’ll have to be close to it, yeah,” Sexton agrees. “When you think about the last three times we’ve played them, we’ve had brilliant game plans and the times we’ve executed them really, really well we’ve done well.