Teary-eyed Ireland captain Johnny Sexton reflected on a “gutting” end to his glittering career following a heartbreaking World Cup exit at the hands of New Zealand.
Andy Farrell’s class of 2023 were bidding to make history in Paris by becoming the first Irish team to reach the last four of the tournament.
But the world’s top-ranked team trailed for most of an enthralling contest before falling agonisingly short as their quarter-final curse continued with a 28-24 loss.
Veteran fly-half Sexton, who travelled to France with ambitions of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup before retirement, tipped his team-mates to come back stronger in his absence during an emotional post-match press conference.
“The last couple of years have definitely been, in a green jersey anyway, the most enjoyable of my career. Definitely,” said Sexton.
“The group, the way Faz (Farrell) leads us with the other coaches, everyone runs into camp and never wants to leave.
“It’s an incredible place to be and that’s what I’ll miss the most. Going to work every day with those guys, but I’m just grateful as well.
“You can’t be 38 and sit here giving out too much. I’ve had lots of ups and downs in my career, lots of injuries, so I’ll probably reflect more over the next couple of weeks, take time off and spend it with my family and see what happens.”
Sexton, the 2018 world player of the year, bows out with 117 caps and 1,108 points, having surpassed Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s record scorer earlier in the competition.
Speaking of the defeat, he said: “It’s gutting, isn’t it? It’s small margins and that’s sport. That’s life. It’s unfortunate, but this group will bounce back.
“They are an incredible bunch led by the man beside me (Farrell). It’s the best group I have ever been a part of. Bar none.
“These guys will go on and achieve great things and I’ll be sitting in the stand having a pint like you lads.”
Scores from native Kiwis Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park and a penalty try helped keep Ireland within touching distance for the duration of a tense encounter.
However, three-time champions New Zealand underlined their rugby pedigree, with Leicester Fainga’anuku, Ardie Savea and Will Jordan each crossing to pave the way for a nail-biting triumph.
Head coach Farrell revealed veteran wing Keith Earls will also retire as the curtain came down on the current era.
“The standards have been immense over the last four years, the players that we’ve used in that four-year cycle have been a joy to work with,” he said.
“And not just that, their connection with the fans, it seemed like it’s all one big family.
“I’m unbelievably proud to be associated with it all. I think the sad thing for us now is that for this group it’s probably the end.
“Obviously it is for Johnny and Keith Earls is going to retire as well, so things are going to change. Mick Kearney our manager is going to finish up as well.
“Over the next 24 hours, it’s time to make sure that we get a smile back on our faces as soon as we possibly can and celebrate what has been some unbelievable careers and what they have done for Irish rugby. It’s important to us, that.”
Ireland desperately pushed for a late twist to prolong their campaign and 17-match winning run but ultimately ran out of steam to suffer a first defeat since the opening match of last summer’s stunning Test series victory in New Zealand.
It could have been a different outcome had replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher not been held up on the line 10 minutes from time.
“Ifs, buts and maybes and all that,” said Farrell. “But at the end of the day it was two good teams out there playing some outstanding rugby, and unfortunately for us we came out on the wrong side of the score.
“Sport can be cruel sometimes I suppose, that’s why we love it so much.
“We want to congratulate New Zealand on a fantastic performance, it was a fantastic game to be part of, it was probably fitting of a final.”
New Zealand, who had Aaron Smith and Codie Taylor sin-binned, will face Argentina in the semi-finals.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster: “This is a special day for us. Sometimes the sweetest victories are when your opposition plays very well and tests you to the limit.
“At the end of the day, we played a lot of that game with 14 players. And we looked in control of it and it felt good.”
Gatland future up in the air after Wales suffer 12th consecutive loss
Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.
The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.
Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.
James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.
"It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.
"You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.
"Let's just see what happens over the next few days."
On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.
"The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.
"I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."
South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.
Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.
"It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.
"The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.
"We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.
"The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."
Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
France 37-23 Argentina: Les Bleus wrap up campaign with third win
France posted a comfortable 37-23 win over Argentina on Friday to make it three wins out of three tests at the Stade de France to conclude their Autumn Nations Series.
Having also beaten New Zealand and Japan in Paris this month, Fabien Galthie's side claimed four tries, including a superb solo effort from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, as they eased to victory against the Pumas.
The hosts led 30-9 at the break after Argentina's Julian Montoya and Juan Martin Gonzalez were both shown yellow cards in the first half, with Thomas Ramos slotting his third penalty of the game.
Tomas Albornoz made it 30-16 for Felipe Contepomi's visitors, but their hopes of a comeback were dashed as Bielle-Biarrey scored his fourth try in three games before Ramos made it 37-16.
Albornoz then cut the deficit to 37-23 with a two-pointer with nine minutes to play, but that wasn't enough to stop his side from falling to a defeat.
"We knew it was going to be an 80-minute game. We saw last week how Argentina went all the way against a good Irish team," France lock Emmanuel Meafou told TNT Sports.
"We are happy with the win. We have three from three [in the autumn] and we will look to build on that in the Six Nations next year."
England must be 'brave on the ball' to halt winless run, says Borthwick
England head coach Steve Borthwick has demanded his team to be "brave on the ball" when they take on Eddie Jones' Japan in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday.
Borthwick's side have lost each of their last five matches, their longest such run since another five-game stretch between February and June 2018.
However, they have not lost more in a row since a streak of seven in 2006. Each of the five losses in their current streak have also come in single-digit margins.
But England have also struggled at home. They have fallen to defeat in their last three matches at the Allianz Stadium, their longest losing run since 2008.
Only once before have they lost more in a row at the Twickenham venue (L5 between 1971 and 1973), though Borthwick has urged his players to persist with an attacking style.
"We are trying to play the game a different way," he told BBC Sport.
"I am encouraging the players to be brave with the ball, to move the ball, that’s where the strength of the team now is and where it is going to be in the future."
Borthwick named his 23-man squad to face Japan on Friday, reinstating Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, nicknamed the "Kamikaze Kids" by Jones in 2019.
Curry has been recalled to the team after he was knocked out against Australia, and he replaces Chandler Cunningham-South in the back-row.
In the other change from the starting XV that lost to South Africa, full-back George Furbank comes in for Freddie Steward.
Fin Smith replaces George Ford on England's bench while Cunningham-South steps in for Alex Dombrandt. Sale's Opoku-Fordjour could also make his senior debut.
"We anticipate a tough challenge from a team that thrives on playing fast and with tempo," said Borthwick.
"Japan are a dangerous team, so it’s important that we execute our game plan and maintain focus throughout the full 80 minutes."
England team to face Japan
George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Nick Isiekwe, Chandler Cunningham-South, Harry Randall, Fin Smith, Tom Roebuck.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
