Sexton fires warning to Wales

Johnny Sexton is confident Ireland can halt Wales in their tracks, as they have done previously against New Zealand and England.

Wales are on course for a Six Nations Grand Slam – won by Ireland last year – and will secure that superb triumph by beating Sexton’s men this weekend.

But Ireland, who can themselves still win the championship, brought an end to the All Blacks‘ record-breaking 18-match winning run in 2016 and also denied England a Grand Slam the following year.

And while Wales coach Warren Gatland says his men have “forgotten how to lose” amid 13 consecutive victories, World Rugby player of the year Sexton has little interest in mind games.

“I don’t know if Wales feel like they’re invincible. They’re saying that they’ve forgotten how to lose and all of that,” he said, as reported by the Irish Examiner. “They’ve eked out some results.

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“We’ve played well against teams that have gone on runs before – New Zealand, England – stopping their runs.

“Again, we’ll give them the respect that they absolutely deserve. We’ll analyse them, we’ll talk about where we can get at them, where we think they are very strong, and we’ll come up with a plan.

“I don’t think we’ll talk too much about the psychology of them.”

Watch: Joe Schmidt and Rory Best on France win and Wales match