Johnny Sexton has been doing the media rounds in recent weeks as his hotly-anticipated autobiography 'Obsessed' hit bookshelves.
One of Ireland's greatest-ever rugby players, Sexton's career came to an agonising end last October with another heartbreaking World Cup quarter-final exit.
Having defeated defending champions South Africa in the pool stages, hopes were high that Ireland could finally break the quarter-final curse and go all the way to World Cup glory.
Standing between them and a place in the semi-finals were New Zealand, and an all-time epic saw the All Blacks break Irish hearts at the last eight for the second successive tournament.
This felt very different to 2019, however. When the two sides had faced off in Japan four years prior, expectations were extremely low among Ireland fans after an underwhelming pool stage that included a shock defeat to Japan.
Ireland's status as one of the favourites to win the 2023 tournament made defeat to New Zealand one of the most heartbreaking in Irish rugby history. The fact that it marked Sexton's final game in a green jersey only added to that heartbreak.
Sexton appeared on the Second Captains podcast this week to promote his new book and revealed Ireland's exploits in South Africa since his retirement had only added to his anguish reflecting on the All Blacks defeat.
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Johnny Sexton reveals World Cup regret created by Ciarán Frawley's South Africa drop goals
14 October 2023; Jonathan Sexton of Ireland reacts at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Last season brought mixed emotions for Ireland. Though the World Cup exit was a crushing culmination of the previous four-year cycle and a second successive Grand Slam slipped through their grasp with defeat to England at Twickenham, the team did secure back-to-back Six Nations titles.
Perhaps most memorable of all was the dramatic test victory over the world champions South Africa on their own turf in Durban in July. Victory was secured late in the day, with one of Johnny Sexton's potential fly-half successors coming in clutch for Ireland.
Ciarán Frawley landed not one but two drop goals in the final 12 minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point win for Andy Farrell's side. Frawley's winning drop goal - the last kick of the game - was the defining moment of the tour.
However, Johnny Sexton this week told Second Captains that the first drop goal had been more noteworthy to him in how it set up the victory - and caused some painful "what ifs?" about last year's World Cup exit.
Speaking on Frawley, Sexton said:
Frawls deserves [the praise he's gotten of late] for that cameo in South Africa alone. That was so impressive.
I thought the first drop goal was nearly more impressive than the second drop goal because he didn't really need to do it. He had the foresight to think, 'If I get a drop goal here, we only have a penalty to score.' It made me reflect a little bit on the New Zealand game...if you go for three at the start of that sequence, you still have four minutes to go again.
It's a painful memory for Sexton to revisit.
With just four minutes left on the clock, Ireland sat four points behind New Zealand in Paris and a relentless attacking drive saw them chase the try that would send them to the semi-finals. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and it would have been a risk, but it's hard not to imagine what could have happened had they taken a shot at goal at the beginning of that phase.
Despite that revelation, Sexton was adamant that retirement had brought him the clarity to look back on last year's World Cup experience in a more positive light.
I've no bearing on the group going forward, so what's the alternative [to focusing on the positives]? Be bitter and twisted about one particular game and slate everyone? What good is that going to do?
I wanted to get across how torn I was...the sense of failure, the sense of letting people down - they were all there front and centre. But I had to try and look back on my career and also on the four-year journey that this particular team had been on. What we set out to do [inspire people], we did. In my mind it was clear. If you were in Paris you'd have seen that.
Obviously, I'm not trying to gloss it up...but if I sat back and thought about that game in isolation, I'd be driven demented. I'd have to go and spend time with a psychiatrist.
