Sexton: For first time ever we're shouting for England

It wasn't perfect but Ireland got the job done and now find themselves in the unusual situation of cheering on old rivals England.

That was the verdict of captain Johnny Sexton after the Triple Crown-clinching defeat of Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland require the English to pull of a surprise win against France at Stade de France to snatch the Guinness Six Nations title.

"We're absolutely delighted, we're just so happy for everyone who came out today," Sexton said afterwards.

"It was an incredible atmosphere form start to finish and they got us over the line in the end which might be an important [bonus] point in the championship.

"I don't think it was perfect by any means. We didn't play as well as we would have hoped. In a final you need to try and play your best. We were searching for that sort of X-factor performance. We did just enough I think, but we did exactly what we wanted to do."

Sexton said the players will relax and watch the France-England clash which kicks off at 8pm [live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player].

"Five points puts us in the hunt, it puts the pressure on France and for the first time ever we're all shouting for England tonight!

"We keep going forward. Andy [Farrell] has come in and since day one we've gotten better and better. It's only a year ago he was being written off, I was being written off, we were being written off as a team.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground and realise you're not that far away from being slated again.

"We're the closest bunch you could imagine. We're a very close group."