Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton urged his team to improve their form ahead of their upcoming Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash. Ireland will face New Zealand on Saturday, in the second of the four quarter-finals to be played.

In a recent interview, the Irishman mentioned that his side has been facing some strange negativity as far as their current World Cup campaign is concerned. However, Sexton also insisted that the team would bounce back and show some epic gameplay during their upcoming quarter-final encounter against the All Blacks. In the process, he requested his team to show the best rugby performance in Ireland's history.

Previously in the tournament, Ireland lost to hosts Japan 12-19 in their Pool A encounter. Speaking of the loss, Sexton said that his team was already aware of Japan's strengths. He also expressed his amazement about the way Japan showed their skills on the biggest platform of the sport. Sexton insisted that his team's journey so far has been good enough, except during their game against the hosts.

As per the Guardian, Sexton said, "There's been some negativity around us and we'd feel that's been pretty strange. But we're really confident in how we're building. We'd like to be playing a bit better in some regards at times, but hopefully, we can put that performance out there on Saturday."

Johnny Sexton
Sexton surpassed 600 international points with four successful kicks, including a fine drop goal. Getty Images

He further claimed that the Irish brigade is extremely concerned when it comes to their team performance. Ireland is currently looking for ways to resurrect their confidence in the latter part of the tournament.

Ireland has never before succeeded to qualify beyond the quarter-final stage in any world cup. Saturday's game would, therefore, mark an opportunity for the men in green to create a new milestone. The Irish team, as well as their entire nation, will be hoping to make it to their maiden world cup semi-final.

As the business end of the Rugby World Cup is about to kick off, Sexton believes that his team can proceed further. However, with the back-to-back world champions waiting to take on Ireland, things can get tough at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo.