# Johnny Sexton Eyes 2027 World Cup, Uses South Africa Loss as “Reference Point”
Johnny Sexton believes Ireland will learn from their recent defeat to South Africa and use it as a benchmark on their path to the 2027 World Cup.Despite a challenging match where Ireland played with 14, 13, and even 12 players at times, and a subsequent drop in the World Rugby rankings to fourth, Sexton doesn’t foresee the need for a major overhaul of their game plan. This comes after recent losses to New zealand (twice), France, and South Africa within the last year.
Meanwhile, South africa has demonstrated significant betterment, securing back-to-back Rugby Championship titles, including a historic win against new Zealand in Wellington. They’ve also actively engaged with fans online and used media platforms to voice concerns about officiating.
The Springboks are scheduled to return to Ireland next year for the Nations championship, presenting Ireland with an opportunity to address the growing gap in performance.
“Saturday’s game in particular will be a massive reference point for us in terms of us playing south Africa this time next year again,” said Sexton at the launch of Laya Arena, the new name for the RDS, Leinster Rugby’s home ground, set to open next summer. “To see the team, how much they can improve and evolve, it’ll be great for us to see. I’m sure South Africa will come back and it’ll be a great match for us to say, ‘look how far we’ve come in these 12 months’.”
Ireland’s pack faced difficulties against the powerful Springboks, with the visitors focusing heavily on scrummaging. Despite this, Ireland ‘won’ the second half 6-5, and a late score could have brought them within a try of victory.
when questioned about whether he believed south Africa aimed to humiliate Ireland – having previously beaten them in four of their last five encounters – Sexton responded, “I don’t know, you’d have to ask them.” He acknowledged the 24-13 loss and the red card shown to James Ryan, and also the four sin-bins, including two loosehead props.
Sexton emphasized that the team showed no lack of effort. “The only time they would be humiliated is if you throw in the towel or you pack it in. I don’t think there was any humiliation in what the lads produced on Saturday for sure. There was sometimes a smarts in terms of some of the penalties that we gave away. And some inaccuracy.”
‘Two years down the line, we’ll give it a crack, I suppose’ – Garry ringrose says Ireland must focus on the here and now #RTESport #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/gAWsbdNsVj
– RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 25, 2025