Test match rugby.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton didn’t take too kindly to a question posed to him in his post-match interview with RTE following his side’s 31-16 win over Scotland in the Aviva Stadium this afternoon.

The win ensured a third-place for Ireland in the Autumn Nations Cup and a bronze medal but they know much more is expected from them going forward.

The men in green started off very slowly against the Scots and looked to be second best in the opening quarter. But an excellent start to the second-half with two quick tries from Cian Healy and Keith Earls ensure Ireland were in the driving seat until the final whistle.

Sexton was asked after the game did Ireland “drift in and out of the game at times” – sparking a fiery response from the outhalf who did not look one bit impressed.

“Yeah, that’s international rugby. You can’t just go out and dominate for 80 minutes,” Sexton said.

“Sometimes you gotta just hang in there and sometimes you have to just roll with the punches, and I thought we did that brilliantly.

“We were 6-0 down, the way we wanted to start the game didn’t happen and that shows character, that shows balls from the boys to bounce back and to dominate a large part of the sort of ‘next 60 minutes.’

“First 20 obviously they had the upper hand but its Test match rugby you don’t get it your own way all the time”

Sexton also made a point to call out the media for their criticism and stated that Ireland doesn’t feel like they’re at the “top table” right now.

“There’s obviously a big difference in opinion between the players and the media,” Sexton added.

We feel we aren’t at the top table yet, we haven’t been able to win away from home against the big teams like France and England but we’ve won every other game.

“Obviously, the performances haven’t been amazing for 80 minutes. Last week was a prime example, a good 40 minutes but then we took our foot off the gas.

“But we back our coaches, we think they’re doing an outstanding job, very different to the previous regime and it takes a little bit of getting used to but as I said we’ve another step to go but we’re happy with our progress.”