Johnny Sexton: Ireland have plenty of room for improvement

As ever the Irish captain was cautious. A one sided win with flaws is how Johnny Sexton saw Ireland’s opening match against Wales.

It was an excellent start to the Championship but when viewed through the prism of France in Paris next week and from the outhalf’s perspective, he can enjoy the wins but with some caveats.

“It’s never going to be perfect in your first game like it wasn’t today,” said Sexton. “We got lots to improve on and we will pick apart the performance like we do all the time.

“It’s just another thing to be doing that after a win. Last year we lost the first game and the Grand Slam is gone, the Triple Crown is gone, everything is gone in one game. And you’re up against it trying to win a Championship. We’ve everything to play for now and that’s where you want to be in terms of trying to build momentum.

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“We know it is a massive test next week, going to Paris and trying to get a result is incredibly tough and we’ll have to be at our very best to do that. France and a lot of teams will have confidence from a good November and summer, they will give us a test.”

Coach Andy Farrell, perhaps predicting what questions were going to arise on the few missed kicks from Sexton, pointed to the weather. A 20mph reading was given as the measure of wind speed in Dublin during the match.

“It’s always nice to get a win and the bonus point is the extra bonus for us in difficult conditions,” said Farrell. “We gutsed (sic) it out and it was never going to be perfect with the conditions Wales defended very well and especially on their own goal line. There’s things we can be better at.”

With the French playing their opening match on Sunday. Ireland will have an extra day on the hosts. That might play a factor.

“We need to dust ourselves down, that’s the key, isn’t it?” said Farrell. “The next one is a big one over in Paris. We have an extra day of preparation than them because they play tomorrow so we need to come back in to work on Sunday night and hit the ground running.”

The gamble of playing Mack Hansen on the left wing paid off Farrell was told.

“You said it was a gamble, not me,” answered the Irish coach. “He’s nice and calm, he plays and trains like that and he was always going to be like that.”

Hansen, who won man of the match on his debut, saw it in an entirely different way. The left wing was instrumental in Ireland’s first try. But really, the Connacht player was just taking it all in.

“The guys inside made my job easier, forward and backs running great lines and playing very well together,” said Hansen. “We’ve been working on that in Portugal so to have it all come together like that it special in front of a packed crowd. It was great to see fans back in.

“It’s honestly been a dream come true. Everyone here has adopted me as their own. And I couldn’t be prouder to be Irish today. I got some special messages throughout the week and it just made this week so special for me. I couldn’t be happier to be honest.”