Josh van der Flier says that hardest part of Ireland's loss to New Zealand is seeing his captain finish up on those terms.
This tournament had long been ear-marked as Johnny Sexton's last dance as a rugby player and it ended in a 28-24 quarter final defeat to New Zealand.
Ireland got off to a nightmare start when, having gone 6-0 courtesy of two early penalties, the deficit extended to 13-0 when Jordie Barrett converted a brilliant Leicester Fainga'anuku try.
Ireland gradually fought their way back into the game with a penalty from
Johnny Sexton and a try from Bundee Aki, but crucially, they never led their opponents.
New Zealand always held some sort of a buffer and more tries from Ardie Savea and Will Jordan saw them to a narrow victory.
[caption id="attachment_294114" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
14 October 2023; Josh van der Flier of Ireland is tackled by Rieko Ioane, left, and Will Jordan of New Zealand during the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile[/caption]
Josh van der Flier pays tribute to Ireland captain Johnny Sexton
After the game, Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier paid tribute to his captain and team-mate Sexton. The 30-year-old hailed the fly half as 'probably the greatest Irish player there's ever been' and called for him to receive a 'good send-off and a bit of a celebration of his career."
"That's probably the focus now," the Wicklow man told Virgin Media's Tommy Martin.
"The hardest part for me is seeing Johnny finishing up.
"What it means to him to play for Ireland.
"He's probably the greatest Irish player there's ever been and what he's done for all the teams he's been involved in has been incredible.
"I hope he gets a good send-off and a bit of a celebration of his career."
Van der Flier says that the difference on the night was that, in defence, Ireland made more mistakes than their opponents.
"It's very hard to know, without watching it back.
"It's all a bit of a blur now straight after the game."
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"I do think they had a few quick strikes off turn-overs or kicks and they scored a few very fast tries. There was never much in it. Both teams probably attacked well and I think defensively we made a few mistakes, and allowed them to score, and that's probably the difference."
Despite the heart-break, van der Flier vowed to 'keep fighting.'
"It's tricky. We were in this situation four years ago.
"You obviously review it and start again, working towards the six nations. For every player now, we're back to our provinces. Hard to flick the switch now, and end up battering each other for a few weeks now before the Six Nations. It's obviously tricky to do.
"You just have to review it, try and go back again, and keep fighting."
"Credit to New Zealand, they played very well. So the best of luck to them going forward."
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