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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Oisin Doherty

Johnny Sexton says more to come from Ireland after fairytale Grand Slam triumph

Johnny Sexton has hinted that there is more to come from his Grand Slam winning teammates as attention turns to the Rugby World Cup in six months time.

In his final ever Six Nations game, the Leinster star steered his side through troubled waters to edge past England on a nervy evening at the Aviva Stadium.

The 37-year-old is set to retire at the end of this year's World Cup and may well have played his final Ireland game at the Aviva Stadium.

READ MORE: Player ratings as Ireland make history and secure home grand slam triumph

But in typical Sexton style, the legendary fly-half is already looking to the future and is confident that Ireland can continue to go from strength to strength.

"It doesn't feel like the end. There's plenty more left in this team, we need to keep building and certainly improve on today," said Sexton.

"We'll be back and we're going to need all this support in four or five months time.

"This is what you dream of as a kid. To have my family here watching the team today, it's dream come true stuff. I have to pinch myself."

With the win, Sexton becomes the first Irish captain in history to win a Grand Slam on home soil. The magnitude of such an achievement isn't lost on him, and he admits that he feels like he is in a dream.

"Honestly, you couldn't make it up. It's like living in a dream, I'm actually worried that I'm going to wake up in the morning."

"We didn't play our best, but bloody hell what a team. What a group of coaches, they prepared us so well. We did nothing that they told us and did the exact opposite, we made things hard for ourselves. England are a top class team."

"To come here and get a win on St Patrick's weekend, it's unbelievable. What a day, unbelievable."

"We set out to win a Grand Slam at the start of the year, we had a Triple Crown last year and wanted to build on that. It came down to today, we talked about this day eight weeks ago.

"We finally got to the big final, and we didn't quite nail it, but we did enough. I'm so proud of the lads to stay in it. Thank you to everyone here today, unbelievable atmosphere.

"It's the best tournament you can play in. It's the best country you can play for. It's an incredible group of people and we're so proud to be Irish. Everyone time we come out here we want to show that to everyone here.

"I think we do that, win, lose, or draw."

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