Andy Farrell has named an unchanged XV to take on All Blacks”

Johnny Sexton says Ireland are preparing for “the toughest game we’ve ever faced” after the head coach, Andy Farrell, named an unchanged XV to take on New Zealand in Paris on Saturday night.

The grand slam chJohnny Sexton says Ireland are preparing for “the toughest game we’ve ever faced” after the head coach, Andy Farrell, named an unchanged XV to take on New Zealand in Paris on Saturday night.

The grand slam champions are aiming to reach the Rugby World Cup semi-finals for the first time after seven previous last-eight defeats. Self-belief will not be an issue, however, given they have won five of their last eight matches against the All Blacks, including a historic 2-1 series victory in New Zealand last summer.ampions are aiming to reach the Rugby World Cup semi-finals for the first time after seven previous last-eight defeats. Self-belief will not be an issue, however, given they have won five of their last eight matches against the All Blacks, including a historic 2-1 series victory in New Zealand last summer.

The 38-year-old Sexton is set to retire after the tournament so the stakes could not be higher for the Leinster fly-half. He played in the drawn British & Irish Lions series against the All Blacks in 2017, and led Ireland to last summer’s series success, so he knows precisely what to expect.

“Every game is as tough as the last,” Sexton remarked, “I’ve had some great battles with over the years with Ireland and the Lions.” We’re trying to get ourselves in the mindset that we’ll be ready for the hardest game we’ve ever played, so that’s what we’re preparing for.

Farrell is able to stick with the lineup that defeated Scotland last Saturday in spite of Mack Hansen and James Lowe’s fitness worries. In the decisive victory over the Scots at the Stade de France, Hansen had a knock to his calf. Farrell stated on Wednesday that Hansen is recovering well and that “everyone is confident he’s going to be fine for the game.

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Hugo Keenan, the full-back, and New Zealand-born Lowe are named in the back three after Lowe recovered from an eye issue. The front row is made up of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, and Tadhg Furlong from Leinster; the second row is occupied by Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson; the back row is made up of Caelan Doris, Josh Van Der Flier, and Peter O’Mahony, who seem formidable.

Jamison Gibson-Park partners Sexton at scrum-half, while Bundee Aki, who is playing well, reunites with Garry Ringrose in the midfield. The Leinster lock James Ryan has been left off the 23-man roster in favour of Joe McCarthy and Jimmy O’Brien as substitutes.

Before meeting with Joe Schmidt, the former Ireland head coach who is also a member of the All Blacks coaching staff, Farrell remarked, “It’s the same mood,” regarding reaching the knockout stages. “It’s the business side of the competition, the big-boy stuff. The experiences we’ve had over the past three or four years have been for times just like this.

“Our group is quite experienced… We’ve become rather adept at handling weeks such as this week and previous week.

For the past four years, we’ve worked on improving our mental toughness, Sexton said. We have practised in many situations in order to be ready for this. We don’t seem to be carrying a lot of baggage. We need to start getting ready for this one-time game right away.