Hugo Keenan says it was crucial for Ireland to end their Guinness Six Nations campaign on a high and believes they have put themselves in a good place to kick on later this year.
Ireland’s 2021 Championship appeared to be heading off the rails when they lost to Wales and France in the opening two rounds but they finished strongly to beat Italy, Scotland and then England.
That 32-18 victory over England was the most complete performance of the Andy Farrell era and could still see them finish second in the final table.
With a British & Irish Lions tour scheduled for this summer, a full-strength Ireland squad won’t be back together until the autumn internationals and that’s why winger Keenan claims they were so eager to produce an all-round performance in their Championship finale.
“We knew we were doing a lot of things right in this campaign and we were just those small fractions off, and those small percentages off,” he explained.
“We were always training well and we chatted about bringing those performances in training, and what we were doing in small parts of games, collectively into one game.
“We did put a bit of pressure on ourselves, I’m not going to lie. It was our last game for a good while. Lads will go off to the Lions and we’ll have a summer tour hopefully.
“Next time that group is back will be in November. We did put a bit of pressure on ourselves to deliver. It is a bit more enjoyable and a bit more satisfying when, I’d like to think, we did that against England.”
This time last year, Keenan had made just 14 Leinster appearances at senior level but the 24-year-old scored two tries on his Ireland debut against Italy in October and has been an ever-present in the ten matches since.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, Johnny Sexton now has 99 Ireland caps to his name and was sensational in the final three rounds of the Championship.
He slotted 18 points against Italy, 17 against Scotland and a remarkable 22 – the highest single-match total of his international career – in the finale against England.
And Keenan believes his captain’s relentless excellence from the tee was the key to shutting England out so successfully in the impressive win.
“Johnny is an unbelievable player. He’s got that experience, doesn’t he? Slotting those kicks was just huge,” added Keenan.
“I know his kicking accuracy this whole campaign has been brilliant, but to keep putting the pressure on England, on a side like that, to keep the foot on their neck was just huge.
“Keep that scoreboard ticking over and put the pressure on them. That’s what he brings.
“He’s an unbelievable leader, unbelievable captain. He’s so passionate about the team, so it was great to see him go so well and perform.”
