Johnny Sexton thanks Ireland fans for 'some of the best days of our ...

A fired-up All Blacks side stand in their way, as they seek revenge for being beaten by Andy Farrell’s men on home soil, with Beauden Barrett already declaring that New Zealand were relishing a chance to set the record straight against Ireland.

The bear has been well and truly poked, but Sexton and his team-mates are braced for the ferocious challenge that awaits at Stade de France on Saturday night.

“We went to New Zealand and Andy told us he'd put us under the most pressure he could find,” Sexton said.

“To go on a three-Test tour but also to do the midweek games, it was to test us and to make us learn and we learnt so many lessons on that tour to take with us for the Six Nations, to win a Grand Slam, and it's to put us in this situation to have to play them again.

“They've already said it's one that they want and when they're hurting and they want to put it right, that's the biggest challenge in rugby, to try and beat them when they're in that frame of mind.

“Two teams will both be under pressure for different reasons, and it will be who copes with that the best and who can put their game out there on the biggest day when the pressure is on.”

In the process of downing Scotland 36-14 in front of another huge sea of green, Ireland won their 17th consecutive game, with Sexton, typically at the heart of everything good about what was an utterly dominant 45-minute performance, before Farrell emptied his bench, and wrapped his key men in cotton wool.

Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell speak after 36-14 victory over Scotland

"Very happy,” Sexton said.

“Sometimes when you know in the back of your mind that you've got different permutations, if you get one point, if you get two, if you're losing, all these different things.

“We just needed to narrow the focus and say, 'We're here to win the game and put in a performance to do that.' So, very happy with the lads and we're exactly where we wanted to be in terms of we won the pool and now we're into the quarter-final.

"We always knew we would most likely play France or New Zealand. There's no easy option there and now we've got New Zealand, so it will be a very tough game.

“I see that they were talking about revenge already and stuff like that, so it will be a game they want and we need to be ready for it."

Having avoided France in the quarter-final, Ireland are likely to play in front of another huge Irish crowd. They will hope it follows the same theme as their previous two pool wins over Scotland and South Africa at Stade de France, which, at times, has almost felt like Dublin.

"All our focus was, 'Let's win the pool',” Sexton maintained.

“You don't pick and choose, you just do your best. Now that we do have New Zealand, it's likely we'll have more supporters there which will hopefully give us a lift at certain times.

“We've played New Zealand plenty of times and they've come into some good form themselves over the last few weeks. It's going to be a hell of a game and we just need to prepare right over the next few days and get the best performance we can out there.”

Sexton (38) paid tribute to the travelling support, as the Ireland captain looks forward to another huge occasion against New Zealand next weekend.

"They went and proved me wrong,” Sexton added.

“My brother texted me about three hours before the game. He was down at the stadium already and he just said, 'Wait until you see what it's like.' He wasn't here last week, my other brother was here last week, but I took his word for it.

"The lads were talking, we have a Scottish physio (Stephen Mutch) who told me it would be a 50:50 crowd. I said 'We'll see'.

"They (supporters) give us some of the best days of our lives, and it's important that we repay that with our performance and give them something to cheer about. We definitely did tonight.

"It's all about next week now. Against South Africa we knew we had two weeks to prepare but we're focused already on next week.”