Caelan Doris says attempting to send Johnny Sexton into retirement as a world champion is adding to Ireland’s motivation ahead of a mouthwatering quarter-final against New Zealand.
Influential captain Sexton is due to call time on his distinguished career following the Rugby World Cup in France, meaning any match now could be his last.
The 38-year-old fly-half used his personal situation to help fire up his team ahead of last weekend’s pivotal Pool B win over Scotland in Paris.
Ireland are back at Stade de France for a quarter-final showdown with the All Blacks on Saturday evening and number eight Doris acknowledges ‘doing it for Johnny’ is part of the squad’s thinking.
“Yeah, it is,” said the 25-year-old, who was sitting alongside Leinster team-mate Dan Sheehan.
“Even last week, building into Scotland, there was a chance that could be his last ever game, he said that to us as a group. And what an unbelievable player and leader he’s been for Ireland for so many years.
“I think all the players will agree that the standards he sets raise everyone else’s game and he’s almost like having another coach on the pitch.
“He seems to have a bird’s-eye view, he seems to see everything regardless of where you were and catches any mistake.
“You can’t get away with anything with him around, which is obviously a good thing for the most part, except when he’s shouting at you for those few seconds.
“He definitely brings us to another level.
“The way he prepares for a game, he absolutely loves the game and puts everything into it, he’s the utmost professional and he’s been a great role model for the two of us.”
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Ireland have won three of four meetings with New Zealand during the reign of head coach Andy Farrell, including last summer’s historic 2-1 tour success.
However, the Irish were thrashed 46-14 by the All Blacks at the same stage of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
With plenty on the line this weekend, suggestions of a spying scandal were downplayed after a photographer, who has been working on behalf of the Irish Rugby Football Union, attended a New Zealand training session open to members of the media.
Ireland assistant coach Mike Catt was unaware of the incident on Thursday when questioned, before World Rugby’s media operations manager Greg Thomas cut in.
“The rules say yes (it is allowed), as long as they’re standing with the rest of the photographers, they can,” said Thomas, who was chairing the press conference.
Mack Hansen took part in Ireland’s captain’s run in the French capital on Friday morning after sitting out training earlier in the week due to a calf issue sustained against the Scots.
Catt insists the Australia-born wing, whose right leg was heavily strapped, is fit and ready to start, while James Ryan (wrist) and Robbie Henshaw (hamstring) could return to contention at the semi-final stage.
Ireland are favourites for what is expected to be a tight and tense affair against the All Blacks.
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Catt says the team have contemplated the prospect of extra-time, which could be followed by 10 minutes of sudden death, and joked that a handful of forwards would be selected in the unlikely event of a kicking competition.
“We have spoken about it,” he said. “The players know who they are: Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Beirne! They’ve definitely put in an extra couple hours of kicking!
“It’s one of those that players are aware of it. It’s a long way to get to that situation.
“You’d like to think in the golden point (sudden death) in 10 minutes one side would take their opportunity and take points.
“The players who are on the pitch know who they are and fingers crossed we put them through the middle.”
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
New Zealand seal historic Test sweep of India
India were whitewashed in a three-match home Test series for the very first time as New Zealand sealed a 25-run victory in the final match at Wankhede on Sunday.
Having given themselves hope of avoiding a 3-0 defeat on day two, India found themselves chasing 145 for victory on a difficult pitch after Ravindra Jadeja had Ajaz Patel (8) caught by Akash Deep.
However, Rishabh Pant’s fine 64 off 57 balls was not enough for the hosts as the wickets tumbled around him, Patel scalping six in the second India innings to take his tally for the match to 11.
India lost four within the first eight overs with Patel taking two, sending stumps flying to account for Shubman Gill then having Sarfaraz Khan caught for one run apiece.
The Mumbai-born seamer finally got Pant’s all-important wicket 22 overs in following a successful review from Tom Latham, and India never looked likely to complete the chase from there.
Glenn Phillips got in on the act with two wickets in two balls to dismiss Ravinchandran Ashwin (8) and Akash (0) before Patel finished things off when his spin ball beat the attempted sweep of Washington Sundar (12).
Data Debrief: Black Caps make history
This is the first time India have lost a Test series 3-0 on home soil in their history, and the first time they have lost three red-ball matches in any single home series since 1983.
They were last blanked on their own turf in the format in a two-match series versus South Africa in 2000.
It is also the first time New Zealand have ever won three Tests in a single series, while Patel now has 25 wickets in two Tests at the Wankhede Stadium – the most by any visiting bowler at a single venue versus India.
England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick
Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
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