JOHNNY SEXTON KNOWS all about times when Ireland were heavily reliant on one person at out-half and didn’t do much to test the depth chart behind the top dog.
That’s because he was the main man for Ireland for so long.
The 2018 World Rugby player of the year dominated the Irish number 10 shirt for over a decade, with head coaches Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell sometimes facing criticism for not exposing alternative options to big Test games unless Sexton was injured.
Sexton is now one of Farrell’s assistant coaches with Ireland, and he says they’re going about things differently this time.
Jack Crowley took over from Sexton as Ireland’s starting number 10 in 2024 and helped them to a Six Nations title, before Ciarán Frawley appeared to be ready to challenge him after landing two game-winning drop goals against South Africa that summer.
Instead, it was Sam Prendergast who jumped ahead of Crowley in November 2024 and has largely been first-choice since. More recently, Harry Byrne’s resurgence with Bristol and Leinster has brought him back into the Ireland squad for this Six Nations.
Prendergast started the first two games of the current championship at out-half against France and Italy, but Crowley is strongly fancied to take over at number 10 this weekend against England at Twickenham.
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And depending on whether Ireland go with a 6/2 bench or not, Frawley could come back into the matchday 23, having last featured in November 2024.
“It’s important that not only those two [Crowley and Prendergast] but Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley too, that they keep developing and getting game time,” said Sexton today.
Sam Prendergast and Ciarán Frawley. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“So there are four guys. All the criticism from previous cycles is that we didn’t develop guys, that we have relied too heavily on one [player] in some positions.
“So we’re doing it a different way now and whether that’s right or wrong, everyone judges it by the outcome, but I know that in games to come, they’re going to hit their best form and they’ll be in a good place.”
According to Sexton, Ireland’s hope is that all of Crowley, Prendergast, Frawley and Byrne will keep vying for minutes as Farrell’s squad build towards the 2027 World Cup.
“All four are very good. They’ve all got their different strengths and as coaches I think we are trying to make sure that we have lots of options going to a World Cup, try and learn from previous cycles and make sure that we give them all a certain number of caps.
“We need to make sure that we see them perform in different pressurised situations, in different venues against different opposition and, yeah, I’m sure it will be like that for the foreseeable.”
While Farrell spoke angrily about how “keyboard warriors” have been targeting Prendergast and Crowley in the wake of Saturday’s win over Italy, Sexton said he has seen “zero” of the online discourse.
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However, his role with Ireland involves working closely with Crowley and Prendergast.
Kildare man Prendergast missed two kickable conversions against the Italians and made other errors, as well as having some classy moments. He made way for Crowley with 25 minutes left, with the Cork man having an immediate impact in steering Ireland to Robert Baloucoune’s classy try. But Crowley also had some errors in his game.
Johnny Sexton speaks to the media. Gavin Cullen / INPHO
Gavin Cullen / INPHO / INPHO
“We wouldn’t say too much straight after the game,” said Sexton of how he interacts with the out-halves after Ireland’s games.
“We let things die down, then review it. We review it together very much. Those guys feed back to us as much as we feed back to them. Ultimately, we want to know why. Why some things went well, what can we do differently in our prep? As coaches, what do we need to do more of? All those types of things.
“Both of them did some really good things, some work-ons, and some things they need to improve. It’ll be like that for the rest of their careers right until the last day. It’s always like that.
“Even if I go back to some of my experiences, you come off the pitch and you think you’ve had a great game, but you get into a Monday review and the coaches have a few other ideas in terms of how things have gone.
“So, they’ll learn from it and keep developing like they have been.”
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'The criticism from previous cycles is that we didn’t develop guys'
JOHNNY SEXTON KNOWS all about times when Ireland were heavily reliant on one person at out-half and didn’t do much to test the depth chart behind the top dog.
That’s because he was the main man for Ireland for so long.
The 2018 World Rugby player of the year dominated the Irish number 10 shirt for over a decade, with head coaches Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell sometimes facing criticism for not exposing alternative options to big Test games unless Sexton was injured.
Sexton is now one of Farrell’s assistant coaches with Ireland, and he says they’re going about things differently this time.
Jack Crowley took over from Sexton as Ireland’s starting number 10 in 2024 and helped them to a Six Nations title, before Ciarán Frawley appeared to be ready to challenge him after landing two game-winning drop goals against South Africa that summer.
Instead, it was Sam Prendergast who jumped ahead of Crowley in November 2024 and has largely been first-choice since. More recently, Harry Byrne’s resurgence with Bristol and Leinster has brought him back into the Ireland squad for this Six Nations.
Prendergast started the first two games of the current championship at out-half against France and Italy, but Crowley is strongly fancied to take over at number 10 this weekend against England at Twickenham.
And depending on whether Ireland go with a 6/2 bench or not, Frawley could come back into the matchday 23, having last featured in November 2024.
“It’s important that not only those two [Crowley and Prendergast] but Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley too, that they keep developing and getting game time,” said Sexton today.
“So there are four guys. All the criticism from previous cycles is that we didn’t develop guys, that we have relied too heavily on one [player] in some positions.
“So we’re doing it a different way now and whether that’s right or wrong, everyone judges it by the outcome, but I know that in games to come, they’re going to hit their best form and they’ll be in a good place.”
According to Sexton, Ireland’s hope is that all of Crowley, Prendergast, Frawley and Byrne will keep vying for minutes as Farrell’s squad build towards the 2027 World Cup.
“All four are very good. They’ve all got their different strengths and as coaches I think we are trying to make sure that we have lots of options going to a World Cup, try and learn from previous cycles and make sure that we give them all a certain number of caps.
“We need to make sure that we see them perform in different pressurised situations, in different venues against different opposition and, yeah, I’m sure it will be like that for the foreseeable.”
While Farrell spoke angrily about how “keyboard warriors” have been targeting Prendergast and Crowley in the wake of Saturday’s win over Italy, Sexton said he has seen “zero” of the online discourse.
However, his role with Ireland involves working closely with Crowley and Prendergast.
Kildare man Prendergast missed two kickable conversions against the Italians and made other errors, as well as having some classy moments. He made way for Crowley with 25 minutes left, with the Cork man having an immediate impact in steering Ireland to Robert Baloucoune’s classy try. But Crowley also had some errors in his game.
“We wouldn’t say too much straight after the game,” said Sexton of how he interacts with the out-halves after Ireland’s games.
“We let things die down, then review it. We review it together very much. Those guys feed back to us as much as we feed back to them. Ultimately, we want to know why. Why some things went well, what can we do differently in our prep? As coaches, what do we need to do more of? All those types of things.
“Both of them did some really good things, some work-ons, and some things they need to improve. It’ll be like that for the rest of their careers right until the last day. It’s always like that.
“Even if I go back to some of my experiences, you come off the pitch and you think you’ve had a great game, but you get into a Monday review and the coaches have a few other ideas in terms of how things have gone.
“So, they’ll learn from it and keep developing like they have been.”
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Six Nations Ireland Johnny Sexton Number 10 Options