"Fingers crossed" - Johnny Sexton hopeful that Tadhg Beirne won't be suspended for Ireland vs Japan

Beirne was initially shown a yellow card, with the referee throwing up the accompanying 'X' gesture, that warranted the offence to be subject to an off-field review whilst Beirne served his time in the sin bin. The Munster man's stint on the sidelines was later upgraded to a red card, which saw the back row miss out on the remainder of the clash in Chicago.

Many fans, pundits and players alike were frustrated by the decision, regardless of their affiliation to either Ireland or the eventual winners, New Zealand. Ireland coach Johnny Sexton is amongst those eager to know the outcome of the hearing, with the IRFU staff waiting with the 'fingers crossed' for the final decision. Speaking at today's Ireland press conference in Dublin, Sexton said;

“There's a hearing tonight. I don't really know how it works. I haven't been in too many disciplinary hearings myself over the years. But the way I see it, we'll let it unfold tonight but if you look at it in real time, it looks very different to how it looked when you slow things down.

“So we're hoping that we get a good outcome but again, you just don't know with these things. But we're fingers crossed that he'll be available for selection."

Another player who's involvement in Saturday's Autumn Test against Japan is currently uncertain, is that of Stuart McCloskey, who sustained a groin injury after 56 minutes in Chicago. It's a tough blow for Ireland, given how impressive the midfielder was for the best part of an hour against the All Blacks.

“He was excellent for the time that he was on the pitch. It's unfortunate for him, obviously, picking up a little strain. I don't think it's too bad, though, and he was doing a bit of work with the physios today while the rest of us were training, so hoping that he'll be back involved.

"Whether it's this week or next week, I'm not sure yet, I haven't heard from Andy yet, but he was very impressive on the pitch. He started the season amazingly well, and it's great, another centre in the mix. So it's good for.”

Reflecting upon Ireland's disappointing trip 'across the pond', Sexton addressed the side's shortcomings head-on after the 26-13 defeat to the All Blacks. The focal point of the loss was the last 20 minutes of the match, as Andy Farrell's side leaked three tries to New Zealand, with the match taken out of reach by a solid showing by Scott Robertson's men.

“Yeah, look, it's a pretty disappointed camp. We feel we probably prepared really well over the last two weeks and we didn't get it out there on Saturday, which is the most disappointing thing. There’s nothing worse than when you prepare properly and you have a good plan and you just don't quite execute it.

“The players have been pretty open and honest, and coaches too, and come in and discussed it over the last couple of days and figured out why because that's the most important thing, we’ve got to take the learnings from it and make sure that it doesn't happen again.”

When asked as to what specifically went wrong in the final 20 minutes, Sexton could not identify an exact singular moment or factor that led to the men in green capitulating their efforts at Soldier Field. The defensive effort was a factor due to being a man down, with Sexton reinforcing how such a lapse in tackle and breakdown resilience will not become commonplace for Ireland.

“It's a lot of things, isn't it? It can't be just one thing. It’s a little bit of everything. That’s a couple of penalties, a couple of inaccuracies in our attack, a couple of kicks, a couple of missed tackles. It’s not one thing, it never is, and it's about just figuring out why, because that's the most important thing, so we can learn from it and it doesn't happen again.

Looking ahead to Saturday's clash with Japan, Sexton is eager to leave the mishaps of Chicago back in the Windy City and set a clean slate ahead of the match with Eddie Jones' side. Ireland are under no illusions as to how Japan can spring a suprise result at the Aviva Stadium, with the 2019 Rugby World Cup defeat to Japan upon the Brave Blossoms home hosted tournament a stark reminder.

“It's trying to turn the page, really, taking the lessons. Andy's always very good at that when you're in the environment, he always re-frames things, we move on pretty quick, but he also keeps us accountable and makes us realise that it wasn't good enough. And sometimes it can happen like that and we understand that. And sometimes you can put it down to prep or do guys take their eye off the ball a bit, but it's just didn't go to plan on the day and we've got some good reasons for that now and we'll make sure that it doesn't happen again.”

With plenty of selection contention on the cards regarding the uncertainly with Tadhg Beirne and Stuart McCloskey, and the intense schedule that comes with a 7 day turnaround following a flight across the Atlantic Ocean, changes are all-but expected for Ireland's second fixture of the Autumn Series.

“It'll be a bit of both. It’s a bit of giving guys a chance, for sure. Some of it will be selection, guys will get a chance because others didn't play that well at the weekend. So it's always a mixture, isn't it? We need to make sure we pick a team that goes out, first of all, and tries to win the game. It's a really important game for us, as all these games are, with regards to rankings and with the World Cup draw coming up.

“So picking a team to win, first and foremost, but at the same time, Andy knows that in two years' time, we're going to a World Cup and we need to have 40 players ready to ready to go.”