‘That’s right up there’ – Johnny Sexton hails Ireland’s epic win over Springboks

Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton said Saturday’s Rugby World Cup triumph over defending champions South Africa is one of his country’s best-ever wins but urged his team to push on and “make it count”.

Ireland took a giant step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals as they sealed a narrow 13-8 victory at the Stade de France in Paris which was also their 6th successive Test win.

Still World Rugby’s top-ranked team

The result consolidates their position at the top of World Rugby’s official rankings and they now have a two-week break before they return to Paris to to complete their Pool B fixtures against Scotland on October 7.

“I think we’ve had some big wins in pool stages before, that’s right up there,” said Sexton.

“When you play against the reigning world champions, it’s always going to be incredibly tough and it was.

“They didn’t let us down in terms of the physicality of the game but I thought we fronted up and gave some good stuff ourselves in that regard.

“Yeah, it’s right up there but we’ve got to make it count now.

“We’ve got some time off this week with the bye week, then we regroup and we’ve got to back it up against Scotland and make sure we do the business to get out of the pool.”

A first-half try from Mack Hansen as well as a conversion and a penalty from Sexton and a three-pointer off the kicking tee from Jack Crowley was enough to secure Ireland’s win over the Springboks.

The Boks stayed in the fight until the end courtesy of Cheslin Kolbe’s five-pointer and a Manie Libbok penalty, but poor goal-kicking from Libbok and Faf de Klerk proved costly in the end.

Ireland were supported by an estimated 30,000 Irish fans on an unforgettable evening at the Stade de France.

And Sexton admitted that the “insane” support was a vital factor in helping his team seal a memorable win.

“We’ve had some big days before in terms of results in the pools but I’ve never ever seen a crowd like that,” said the 38-year-old.

“Someone said there was 30,000 fans but there was no way it was 30,000.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there was 60,000 and they were insane throughout. They gave us the lift that we needed.

“Honestly, it’s not lost on us. We talk about it a lot, about inspiring those people that put their hand in their pocket week after week.

“They probably saved for four years to come here and it’s something we refer to all the time and I mean that.

“We play for them and they gave us the edge, fair play to them.”

Boks turn focus to Tonga

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi urged his side not to dwell on their defeat as they seek to bounce back in a crucial encounter against Tonga in Marseille on October 1.

“The intensity of the game was exactly what we needed for a lot of players that have never played at such intensity,” said the back-row.

“The whole atmosphere was amazing on the field but we know exactly what we need to do as a group.

“We’ve got to lift our heads, we’ve got a big game coming and if we dwell too much on what happened, we will forget to perform next week.

“We need to get through that one and then we can start thinking about afterwards. Tonga is an important game.”

READ MORE: South Africa v Ireland: Five takeaways from a brutal Rugby World Cup clash