Ireland v Russia Team Announcement Press Conference

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt and Jonathan Sexton, who will captain the team against Russia, were at the team announcement press conference in Kobe this morning.

Out-half Sexton, who will become Ireland’s 106th captain at Test level, said:

It is something I have thought about since I was a kid, something I’ve made decisions around trying to get there one day. It has taken a while but it was worth the wait and I want to be a captain who delivers a good performance and a good World Cup win – that’s my main focus.”

Asked about the changes to the team and the push for a bonus point win, Schmidt commented:

We have some guys who are very keen to be involved and they’ll get a chance (against Russia) on Thursday. We have to stay around our performance-oriented goals. If we don’t focus on those, we won’t put things on the scoreboard.”