Former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton has admitted that seeing his former Ireland and Leinster teammate Ciaran Frawley successfully land two drop goals against the world champions, South Africa, made him reflect on the defeat to New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup last year.
Ireland entered the World Cup as favourites but were narrowly beaten by New Zealand in their quarterfinal in Paris. The defeat was Sexton's last game in an Ireland jersey, and more heartache followed that spring when Ireland missed out on another Grand Slam to England.
However, the crowning moment of the year came when Ireland, who were beaten by South Africa in the first of the two tests, won their second clash last summer. The brutal showdown was won by the heroics of Frawley. The Leinster utility man landed not one but two drop goals in the final 12 minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point win for Andy Farrell's side.
Sexton has been promoting his book this week and admitted that Frawley's quick thinking in South Africa made him reflect on what he could have done against the All Blacks last autumn.
79.59 on the clock. Ciaran Frawley winds up for his second drop goal of the game.
WHAT
A
KICK!!! pic.twitter.com/hFFDOwaMkJ— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 13, 2024
"Frawls deserves [the praise he's gotten of late] for that cameo in South Africa alone. That was so impressive," said Sexton on the Second Captains podcast this week.
"I thought the first drop goal was nearly more impressive than the second drop goal because he didn’t really need to do it. He had the foresight to think, 'If I get a drop goal here, we only need a penalty to score.' It made me reflect a little bit on the New Zealand game... if you go for three at the start of that sequence, you still have four minutes to go again."
Losing such a big game in your last match could leave a sour taste in your mouth, especially for someone as successful as Johnny Sexton. It would be assumed that losing would leave a bitter pill to swallow, but Sexton admits that he sees the positives rather than the negatives of the defeat. His strong feelings after the game only came from frustration, admits the former Ireland captain.
"I've got no bearing on the group going forward, so what's the alternative [to focusing on the positives]? Be bitter and twisted about one particular game and slate everyone? What good is that going to do?" added Sexton.
"I wanted to get across how torn I was—the sense of failure, the sense of letting people down—they were all there front and centre. But I had to try and look back on my career and also on the four-year journey that this particular team had been on. What we set out to do [inspire people], we did. In my mind, it was clear. If you were in Paris, you’d have seen that.
"Obviously, I’m not trying to gloss it up... but if I sat back and thought about that game in isolation, I’d be driven demented. I’d have to go and spend time with a psychiatrist."
