And breathe.

A valiant, yet heartbroken CJ Stander has reflected on Ireland’s narrow loss to Wales today in typical fashion as they look to regroup before welcoming France to Dublin next weekend.

The men in green hung in until the final seconds and looked like they were going to go on a pull off a famous win in Cardiff, despite being down to 14-men after just 13 minutes following a Peter O’Mahony red-card.

Ireland went 6-0 down early on but fought back and went into the break leading 13-6 thanks to the boot of Johnny Sexton and a Tadhg Beirne try. But second-half tries from George North and Louis Rees-Zammit were enough to give the home side the win.

After the game, Stander looked visibly exhausted and quite emotional but was incredibly proud of his teammate’s effort.

“This jersey means a lot to the players and the team, the coaching staff as well,” Stander said.

“We dug deep today. We really had to dig deep.

“We’ve been here before. We just need to get away from the wall and keep on pushing.”

“We’ve got a massive squad who can keep their heads high today.”