IT’S THE END of an era as Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final defeat brings the careers of Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls to a close.
Achieving history in Paris to send Sexton out on a high had clearly been a driving force for the group and in the belly of the Stade de France late on Saturday night, hooker Dan Sheehan paid tribute to the outgoing Ireland captain.
“He deserved more than this. His career, in my eyes he’s the best Irishman to ever wear the jersey.
“I grew up watching him,” Sheehan continued, becoming emotional as he spoke.
To be in the same team as him has been crazy, and I can’t thank him enough for how he showed me the game, and the leadership he has shown.
“He’s just so consistent in his messaging and the standards he sets. In training, you might be playing fecking Dragons or Zebre, and on a Monday he’ll be screaming at people to make sure standards are set.
“He’s a hard person to replace, the way he has guided Irish rugby for the last 15 years, even more.
“He’s not a man of huge moments, but like he’s just consistently a competitor and someone that doesn’t come around very often. He’ll be a huge loss.”
New Zealand’s ferocious start to the game saw them cause problems for Ireland around the breakdown and put pressure on the lineout as they moved into an early 13-0 lead.
“They did a good job. They probably kept an eye on me and just went on my cue of throwing. I thought we did a good job in the second half, and later on in the first half, to get through that, but they’d obviously done their homework on us, and fair play to them. They got a few of our balls.”
Sheehan added that while Ireland never felt complacent going into the game, the thought of exiting at the quarter-final stage hadn’t entered his mind in the build-up.
“Hugely disappointed. I think there were a lot of opportunities where we could have won that game. New Zealand are obviously a quality side and they know how to win big games.
We might have left it out there, but you can’t fault the squad’s effort. The bond we have between one another, I didn’t think we’d be going home this weekend.
“We didn’t get complacent once. We knew the job ahead; it was always going to be a tough game. The squad we have, all the backroom staff, we put in a good shift and that’s sport. It just doesn’t come up sometimes.
“Obviously we’re massively proud of how we’ve come through, and the whole tournament we’ve been on it.
“We didn’t give up there til the end, and 30-plus phases at the end. But there were a few big moments in that game that switched the momentum, and it was tough to get back.
“But no, can’t fault the efforts of all the players and then all the backroom staff, who have been hugely supportive of us. It’s just shit.
“New Zealand beat us,” he added. “We didn’t deserve any more. We could have performed better tonight, of course, but that’s sport.
“The support from back home, I wasn’t expecting it. Going into the World Cup, obviously it’s my first World Cup, but it’s been absolutely crazy.
“The amount of people that I’ve had personally travel over for me, but then every game is a home game here.
“The atmosphere, the hype back home, we’re disappointed we couldn’t do anything for them, but hugely thankful that they actually paid the money to get over and took the time out of their weekends to come over and support us.”
