If Johnny Sexton had missed that drop-goal, Joe Schmidt would have been a very frustrated man.
Two minutes from full-time, it looked like Ireland were going to kick off their 2018 Six Nations campaign with a loss.
After Johnny Sexton missed a penalty that would have sent Ireland 10 points clear, France fired back with a try to take the lead by a single point.
With their backs pressed firmly against the wall, Ireland delivered. 41 phases of superb team play coupled with a display of ‘big Irish balls’ from Johnny Sexton later and they emerged as the victors. That drop goal sailing between the posts will forever be an iconic moment in Irish rugby.
Conor Murray reveals how Johnny Sexton let him know the drop goal was on https://t.co/ccmbrtlWDs
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 4, 2018
Up until Sexton nailed that kick, Schmidt was sure the game was lost. He was impressed with the team’s performance at the beginning, but the pace of the game started to suit the French.
“We felt it was one that got away if it managed to get away. I felt we did a lot of things really well, we started the game really strongly right from the first phase of play. We launched at them and there was some good handling in the backline, Bundee Aki freed up Keith Earls on the edge with Jacob Stockdale linking up as well.”
“I felt we started really well. It was a stop-start game, there were lots of penalties and lots of potential penalties that cause some very slow ball. If you try to break a French defence down with slow ball, even in those last phases of play there were rucks that were seven or eight seconds, you are really up against it.”
Maybe I like the misery #SixNations https://t.co/CjuQLKEq7i
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 4, 2018
Schmidt cited the physicality of the French as the X-Factor that kept them in the game until the dying moments. In the end, it took a moment of magic to secure the result in the lion’s den.
“Physically getting off the line, you know how tough they are. I think people physically underestimate how tough it is to come here and win. Having metrics in your favour doesn’t necessarily give you the one metric you want at the end of the day, which is the 15-13 that we managed to scramble at the end.”
It was far from comfortable, but what a way to win.
