“I think the game on Saturday was a standalone,” Sexton said, speaking at the announcement of the renamed Laya Arena at the RDS. This half-time was just trying to come up with a plan with 12 men, trying to come up with plays with 12 men. Normally a preset solution is at hand with tried-and-trusted tactical switches and tweaks, but playing a Test match with 12 players was in nobody’s playbook. “It was more coming up with a plan for kick-off,” Sexton said of the start of the second half. That is the minimum you want to see from any Irish team and they produced it in spades,” Sexton said.

Source: The Irish Times November 26, 2025 06:07 UTC