Jonathan Sexton of Ireland celebrates his side's third try during the win over the All Blacks. Photo / Getty
Jonathan Sexton of Ireland celebrates his side's third try during the win over the All Blacks. Photo / Getty
Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton has praised his team's character, saying their mental resilience was key in Sunday's 29-20 win over the All Blacks.
While the Irish was good value for their victory – dominating territory and possession throughout – they were never comfortable on the scoreboard.
The match was alot closer than it should have been, thanks to New Zealand's gritty defence and Ireland's inability to capitalise on their chances.
That was best epitomised by the All Blacks' 10-5 halftime advantage, a scoreline that had most in the Aviva Stadium crowd rubbing their eyes with disbelief.
Ireland had one try harshly ruled out in the first half, went close on several other occasions and turned down a slew of kickable penalties, only to watch the All Blacks grab the lead with an opportunistic 32nd-minute try to Codie Taylor.
"I thought we played some great stuff in the first half, I don't know how we went in 10-5 down at halftime," said Sexton.
Sexton admitted in hindsight they might have got some penalty options wrong, as they wanted to keep the pressure on. But it was a test of character, as doubts could have creep in at the break.
They had thrown everything at the All Blacks but had nothing to show for it, beyond James Lowe's 15th-minute try.
"We weren't clinical in the first half but this team has worked a hell of a lot on our mental side of the game," said Sexton. "To bounce back and come again is testament to the management, the leadership group and the players themselves, to come back and be clinical in the second half.
"Previously we would have said, 'We didn't take our chances', and we would have put the heads down a bit but we kept pounding away and we got our rewards."
Jonathan Sexton of Ireland celebrates his side's third try during the win over the All Blacks. Photo / Getty
Ireland coach Andy Farrell said they were upbeat at halftime, despite the plethora of missed opportunities.
"We weren't frustrated," said Farrell. "The feeling from the players was, when we were at our best we were causing them trouble, so the confidence was there.
"We talked about being calm and sticking to the process; there are all sorts of things that can go through your mind, thinking too far ahead.
"Even in the last 10 minutes, we have seen so many sides against the All Blacks just trying to shut up shop but you have to keep playing, sticking to the process and backing ourselves and we did that pretty well."
It was arguably the most convincing Irish display against New Zealand, surpassing the triumphs in Chicago (2016) and Dublin (2018), as the men in green thoroughly outplayed the visitors.
The All Blacks were gallant – and found a way to stay in the match – but were well beaten in most facets of the contest, forced to make 238 tackles to Ireland's 101 and living off only 39 per cent possession and 33 per cent territory.
However, Farrell feels Ireland have room to improve.
"I said earlier this week you need to be at your best and you probably need a little bit of luck along the way [to beat the All Blacks]," said Farrell.
"I don't think we needed the luck, because we [were] at our best. The pleasing thing is that it can be better. We created a good few chances that we either got pulled back for or didn't quite grasp - just keeping the constant pressure on them was pretty impressive."
But Farrell said the All Blacks remained the measuring stick in world rugby.
"The toughest thing is sport is to be consistent," said Farrell. "When you are chasing something down you have always got a goal in sight and the hardest thing, when you keep playing well, is to keep getting better.
"That's why we respect [the All Blacks] so much; they have been at the top for so long and everyone sees it as an opportunity, to play against the best team in the world and test themselves. Time and again they keep coming up with the goods."
