LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar 2022
THE NEWS THAT had been widely expected for some time finally arrived earlier this week with confirmation that Johnny Sexton had signed a new contact with the IRFU, the Ireland captain putting pen to paper on a deal that will take him through the the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and represent the last contract of his career.
Even at 36, it was an easy decision for the IRFU to make. Sexton remains the premier out-half in Irish rugby and his recent form would suggest he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Few are better placed to analyse Sexton’s continued high standards than Jamison Gibson-Park. The scrum-half has partnered Sexton in the half-backs for many of Leinster’s biggest games across the last six seasons, and all of Ireland’s over the last 18 months.
“He’ll say himself that he has definitely evolved in that time period,” Gibson-Park says.
There’s no doubt he is always looking to get better, it’s probably the reason why he has been around for so long and he’s always the standard bearer in terms of our standards here. I’d like to say definitely, he has got better as a player, for sure.
“It’s awesome man (that Sexton signed a new deal). I’m delighted for him, obviously he’s said that while the fire’s still burning he’s going to stick around.
“He has an unbelievable brain and I really enjoy playing with him, I think his rugby intellect is on another level so I look forward to the next little while with him and hopefully we’ll keep it moving.”
While Sexton remains the leader and focal point of Andy Farrell’s Ireland team, Gibson-Park comes across as a far more reserved, laid back character.
Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster has spoken of how the 30-year-old – who in the last 18 months has eclipsed Conor Murray as Farrell’s first-choice scrum-half – has grown to back himself more, having arrived in Ireland with a mindset forged from always being ‘the number two’.
One imagines you’d have to come out of your shell if you’re to thrive in a team alongside Sexton. Gibson-Park remembers his first encounter with the out-half after arriving from the Hurricanes.
It was actually at a barbeque at Hayden Triggs’ house back in 2016. I suppose at the time I was a little bit star-struck, I was thinking, ‘Jeez, I don’t know what to say to this lad’.
“But it’s been a crazy journey over the last five and a half, six years, and a little bit longer to go hopefully.
“I’ve been here almost six years now and I’ve learned so much, just through playing with him and listening to him speak in meetings, he obviously has a wealth of experience and I’m very grateful for being around him in the last while, and for what’s to come.”
The next job for the pair is England at Twickenham, a stadium in which Ireland have lost four times since their last success back in 2018, in the days before Gibson-Park was part of the international picture.
“We’re pretty focused on what we’re going to bring in our performance,” Gibson-Park continues.
“There’s probably parts of it in France that we got wrong and we’ve got to take those learnings and do better on Saturday. The France game was the first proper big day away for a lot of us in terms of the crowd and atmosphere and things like that.
“We had some pretty good sit-downs after that performance and we’d love to put all of that into play.
“We spoke about it during the week that we’ve got to go and play the game and not to the occasion, but it is very difficult not to get caught up in it when there are 80,000 fans there.
“The French had gone well and it felt like they had more than 15 on the paddock, but it’s about handling the occasion and focusing on performance rather than what else is going on.”
While Gibson-Park remains in a tight battle for the number nine shirt alongside Luke McGrath at Leinster, he appears well placed as Farrell’s main man for the time being, the tempo he can bring with his play proving key in Ireland’s current system.
“It’s just having an attacking mindset and looking to play the space, keeping the tempo high, and I think that’s the type of game that suits me.
“I’m really enjoying being in this environment. It’s another big step in our journey this weekend.”
Comedian Michael Fry is our special guest on this week’s episode of The Front Row, in partnership with Guinness. Joining host Seán Burke, Eimear Considine and Murray Kinsella, he chats about his family’s rugby background and his short-lived playing days, before using his musical ear to rank the anthems of each Guinness Six Nations team. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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