Johnny Sexton: Ex-captain's legacy has helped Ireland move on from World Cup, says Paul O'Connell
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O'Connell says he can see Sexton's leadership qualities in new captain Peter O'Mahony (left) and Caelan Doris (right), who skippered Ireland for the first time last week
Paul O'Connell has credited former captain Johnny Sexton for Ireland's strong leadership, saying his legacy "still lives on with us".
Legendary fly-half Sexton brought the curtain down on his rugby career after Ireland's World Cup exit last year.
O'Connell admits he was nervous about how Ireland would respond to yet another agonising World Cup loss.
But he believes the qualities the squad inherited from Sexton have helped them in the early rounds of the Six Nations.
"I suppose you're very hopeful that the work we've done with all of the players kind of comes through, but you're a bit nervous that it might not happen as well," O'Connell said of the new era.
"We're only two games in so we've plenty of battles ahead of us.
"I think one thing that maybe Johnny has given a lot of the guys is he's shown how much you have to care about the team and how much you have to care about how you prepare."
Forwards coach O'Connell, one of Sexton's predecessors as captain, added: "He's been a great example to some of the guys that are going to end up as leaders in the team.
"While he's gone, his legacy from how he used to go about his business still lives on with us.
"A lot of the guys - [new captain] Peter O'Mahony, Caelan Doris, James Ryan, Iain Henderson, Garry Ringrose - they've a few of his qualities in them that helps us arrive to a good place every Saturday when we play."
Ireland have bounced back from their World Cup exit impressively, claiming a rare away win over France before sweeping past Italy to begin their Six Nations title defence in style.
As a result, Andy Farrell's side, who next face Wales in Dublin on 24 February, have been tipped to win their second successive Grand Slam, which would be a first in the Six Nations era.
However, O'Connell insists the players are skilled at "ignoring the bigger picture" as they hunt an unprecedented achievement.
"We talk about winning, for sure, we always want to win the tournaments we're playing in and we talk about winning them, but once we've cleared that up, we don't really talk about it much more," said O'Connell, who won three Six Nations titles during his 13-year Ireland career.
"We just focus on the next game. We focus on what needs to be better for the next game and get excited about doing the things we feel might lead to a performance.
"It's something that the players do really well. It's a practised skill being next-game focused.
"Andy's big into it, Joe Schmidt (former Ireland head coach) was big into it back in the day and a lot of the players are big into it because it helps them prepare properly by ignoring the bigger picture."