Reduced to a pulp time and time again, Johnny Sexton wrote one hell of a script at the Aviva Stadium.
You felt for Paddy Jackson as the RTE cameras scanned to his face on the Ireland bench every time Sexton had a moment. For the first 20 minutes, like so many of his teammates, those moments were iffy. Everything after that was superb.
After two Six Nations rounds that threw up new and old names as competition for those 9 & 10 Lions jerseys, Sexton and Conor Murray reminded the world how good they were.
Before the game, the Irish players would have looked over to the left-hand side of the dressing room and saw Murray and Sexton back together. Sitting side by side. That would have assured them no end.
After a shaky opening in which the error count went through the roof, Murray was metronomical and unflustered. He kept driving his team on and testing the French – arcing up beautiful, tricky box-kicks.
Sexton was not perfect but he was not far off by the end. His passing was timed so perfectly and kept getting runners through holes.
30 minutes into the game and Murray delivered the killer blow to France. Ireland punctured Les Bleus down the left and had a great platform. They upped the tempo, heaved into the French and some smart work from Jamie Heaslip cleared a path for Murray and his low, strong dive was enough for the try.
Sexton’s conversion made it 7-6 and he took up Ireland’s fight after the break. His goal-kicking was bang on and a 40-metre drop goal was massively enjoyed by all.
With Ireland 16-6 ahead, midway through the half, Sexton and Murray’s tactical kicking came to the fore. How frustrated France must have been back-pedalling into their own twenty-two for lineouts and to make clearing kicks?
And all game, without fail, Sexton took massive hits. Picamoles, Le Roux, Guirado all took runs at him. He was down for treatment and kept getting back up. Sometimes it took longer than others.
Even when Eddie Ben Arous planted him into the turf, he took his time, gritted his teeth and popped the gumshield back in.
Sexton left when Ireland were almost home and Murray, who made a try-saving tackle on Scott Spedding, only left when the result was in the bag and the bag securely tied. Warm ovations for both men and Joe Schmidt kept it up after the 19-9 victory. He said:
“In a measured way, I thought he was a real, real positive for us.”
Schmidt added, “It’s based on experience. It is certainly not the first time Johnny has done it… he has a competitive edge and wants to be at his best all the time.”
On a night for true grit – a night for heroes – two men stepped up. They’ve been doing it for years but this was one of their best outings.
The championship is alive.
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