Johnny Sexton is "carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders" after Ireland missed out on the Six Nations title, says former skipper Rory Best.

Ireland knew a winning margin of seven points would clinch the title but fell to a 35-27 defeat in France.

Best preceded Sexton as Ireland captain and feels the fly-half needs someone to turn to "when times are tough".

"He's very experienced but captaincy-wise, he hasn't done it for long and it is tough on him," said Best.

With Ireland trailing in Paris and their Six Nations hopes slipping away, Sexton was visibly frustrated after being substituted by head coach Andy Farrell.

Speaking to Sportsound Extra Time, former Ulster hooker Best said Sexton's reaction was natural as "nobody wants to win as much as he does".

"Whenever the team aren't winning, people look to certain players. Externally, they look to see how the captain is reacting and with Johnny, it is hard for him because he doesn't want to go off in any circumstance," added Best.

"When you look around him - with Garry Ringrose injured, Peter O'Mahony on the bench and without [Iain] Henderson - there's not a lot of other provincial captains or a lot of experience there to help him.

"It's nice to have that crutch to lean on. Whenever I was captaining Ireland, to have Johnny, Peter and Hendy was a real help to me - but Johnny just doesn't have that at the minute.

"He is vastly experienced in leading a side, there's no doubt about that, but it's nice as a captain to have people around you who you can turn to when things are tough."
'It's easy to blame one player'

After coming under scrutiny following the defeat in Paris, Best feels Ireland full-back Jacob Stockdale needs to avoid "all the stuff that has been written" about his performance at the Stade de France.

With Ireland in the lead thanks to a try from centurion Cian Healy, Stockdale's fumble eventually led to a yellow card for flanker Caelan Doris and a penalty try to give the hosts an advantage they would not relinquish.

"If you go back through the game, he only really had four mistakes - OK, two of those were quite crucial," said Best.

"When you take his game as a whole, he kicked really well and he beat the first defender a lot of the time when he had the ball. He ran it back really strong.

"There were a couple of things he won't be happy with, just silly lapses of concentration, but he's very new at full-back at international level.

"It's very easy to pick two moments in a game and blame one player."

Despite playing the majority of his career on the wing, Stockdale was selected at full-back for Ireland's remaining Six Nations matches against Italy and France after Jordan Larmour's injury and Rob Kearney's international retirement.

Best said he prefers the Ulsterman in his natural position on the wing and that Farrell has to make a decision about the future position of the 24-year-old.

"There has to be a decision now - is it an experiment or is this where they see his long-term future?" said Best.

"He was really good with ball in hand - which is why I like him on the wing. He has that little bit of space and there's not the pressure of trying to organise a reasonably internationally-inexperienced back three around him.

"I was speaking to [former Ulster and Ireland centre] Darren Cave and he made a good example. Jacob is a world-class winger who hasn't played a lot at full-back. It's like moving James Ryan from second row to blindside flanker.

"If you have a world-class player in a position, are you just moving them for the sake of it or do you see them in that position? If it's the latter, then you have to give him time."