Johnny Sexton autobiography gives extra edge to Ireland-New Zealand, says Danny Care
Fly-half legend Sexton used his newly published autobiography to accuse Blacks star Rieko Ioane of goading him after Ireland lost an epic World Cup quarter-final showdown 12 months ago
Danny Care reckons Ireland’s huge showdown with New Zealand has been given a war of words ‘extra spice’ as Andy Farrell’s men seek revenge for their World Cup woe.
Care, capped 101-times by England, believes the mouthwatering Friday night Dublin clash of the titans was big enough anyway - but Johnny Sexton’s book revelations have taken things onto another level.
Fly-half legend Sexton used his newly published autobiography to accuse Blacks star Rieko Ioane of goading him after Ireland lost an epic World Cup quarter-final showdown 12 months ago.
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Ioane hit back on social media, while former New Zealand full-back Israel Dagg joined in by telling Sexton to ‘give it a rest’ and accusing Ireland of ‘throwing a lot of chat out there'.
As the two sides meet for the first time since the rumpus erupted, Care says: “Friday night, Aviva Stadium, under the lights, sellout crowd - wow, I’m envious of anyone who’s got a ticket for that one.”
Writing a column as part of the Mirror’s bumper 48-page autumn internationals preview supplement, Care goes on: “There’s extra spice to this one because of what happened last time they met in the World Cup, one of the greatest Test matches I have seen.
“Johnny Sexton’s book is out, there’s been talk of things that happened during that game, of a fallout between the teams. There won’t be a backward step taken when they meet again and I can’t wait to see it.
“Ireland will be disappointed at not getting beyond the last eight of the World Cup, particularly as they were one of the big favourites and many felt it was their year. But this is what can happen in tight games of rugby when you are playing super-powers like New Zealand and South Africa.
“It only takes one slight switch-off in defence, or one try opportunity you don’t take, and those two have a knack of punishing you. For Ireland it happened at the worst possible time at the World Cup, but professional sport, and in particular international rugby, can be unforgiving at times.”
New Zealand got their autumn tour off to a flying start with a narrow 24-20 win over England at Twickenham last weekend.
But Care, who is working as a TNT pundit and co-commentator for the autumn games, believes Farrell’s men in green can burst that bubble and go on a four out of four autumn Grand Slam success of their own.
After Friday’s game, Ireland meet Argentina, Fiji and Australia, before Farrell leaves ahead of the Six Nations to focus on taking charge of next summer’s Lions tour.
With Farrell determined to keep Ireland at number one in the world rankings, Care writes: “Faz will definitely be targeting four wins.
"It’s unusual he is still in charge at this stage, normally the Lions coach takes a full year out, but I suspect one of the reasons is because Ireland meet Australia in the final match at the end of the month. Let me have a go at the Wallabies, see what they are like; that sort of approach.”
READ DANNY CARE’S COLUMN IN FULL AS PART OF OUR BUMPER 48-PAGE AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS PREVIEW SPECIAL. ORDER YOUR MUST-HAVE COPY HERE
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