At the Rugby World Cup, Tommy Bowe praised Johnny Sexton for his ability to recover after the epic 13-8 victory over South Africa.

A number of big hits were thrown at Sexton, 38, but he still kicked five points to lead the Irish to a Pool B victory.

He was down on one knee so many times that you thought he was going to fall off, but he was like Lazarus – he just kept coming back.”

His leadership is so important. He stepped up to the plate.”

On the Rugby Union Daily podcast, former Ireland wing Bowe said: “Pieter-Steph du Toit put so many marginally late shots in, and Sexton kept getting back up.”

In Paris, Ireland came from behind to win, moving four points clear of the Springboks in Pool B. Mack Hansen scored the try for Ireland.

The Irish scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park was also highly praised by Bowe.

According to Bowe, Gibson-Park is essential to Ireland’s speed, tempo, and style of play.

As a matter of fact, I would question the importance of Gibson-Park to Ireland over Johnny Sexton.”

It was a match between two absolute heavyweights who went toe-to-toe, according to the former Ireland wing.

Ireland made a huge statement by winning by such a small margin. We didn’t know how it was going to go until the final whistle.

Despite going into this competition as the number one team, they did not play the best rugby and did not really attack.

“But they did what they had to do, and that is what you have to do in big cup competitions.”