Irish showed resilience in beating All Blacks, says ‘very proud’ Sexton

The Irish, roared on by a fired-up capacity crowd at Lansdowne Road for the first time since February last year, dominated the first half but through handling errors, and a try that was ruled out, went in 10-5 down at the break.

“We weren’t clinical in the first half but then, fair play,” said Sexton.

“This team has worked a hell of a lot on our mental side of the game so to bounce back and come again was testament to the management and leadership group and the players themselves to come back and be clinical in the second half.

“Because previously, we would have said ‘Ah, we didn’t take our chances’ and we would have… not given up but we would have put the heads down a bit.