Sunday 15 February 2015 12:12, UK
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt reserved plenty of praise for Johnny Sexton after his victorious return to action against France.
Sexton was named man-of-the-match after kicking 15 points for the defending Six Nations champions on his return from a mandated 12-week absence, Ireland needing all of those points as they edged to an 18-11 win.
There was one heart-stopping moment for the Racing Metro fly-half when he needed stitches after a clash of heads with French centre Mathieu Bastareaud, but he was soon back on the pitch after passing concussion protocols that have been in the headlines this week.
"He was off for blood. He has got a few stitches and a shiner. We were more worried about just if that shiner blows up it is a bit hard to judge at distance," Schmidt said.
"Our medical team did an HIA (Head Injury Assessment) on him anyway as a precaution to make sure. He started giving out to the doctor and when the doctor first came on, he knew he was pretty lucid because that is just like Johnny.
"He is fine. He is probably just frustrated that he missed one kick for touch that went out on the full. I thought he kicked incredibly well out of his hand, including one fantastic kick right down into the right hand corner early on.
"That is the thing, it is a concern I have with Johnny because I know he is not going to give any quarter and he is not going to back off.
"When Bastareaud came at him and he copped Bastareaud's elbow a couple of times you do worry because you know he is not going to back off.
"He is a super competitor but that spreads throughout the team.”
Schmidt admitted it had not been a faultless performance by his side but denied they lacked a clinical streak.
"I think we have the killer instinct, it is just we need to be more accurate," the New Zealander added. "I think France would say the same thing about themselves."
Meanwhile, France coach Philippe Saint-Andre, who has just three away wins to his credit since becoming coach after the 2011 World Cup final, admitted the defeat was hard to take.
"I am hurt by this result because all week we felt we had the means to win." Saint-Andre said.
"Our discipline in the first-half was not good enough and then the yellow card in the second period (Pascal Pape for kneeing Jamie Heaslip in the back) did not help at all.
"Matches like this are decided by little things and we didn't master them.
"The Irish are a very good side but we are not as bad as people seem to think we are."
