LAST UPDATE | 3 Nov 2021
JOHNNY SEXTON WAS once again out in front of the cameras yesterday, speaking from the IRFU’s High Performance Centre in Abbotstown just one week on from logging into a video call to help launch the Autumn Nations Series.
Not much had changed in the seven days since he last spoke to the media, but with Sexton there’s always plenty to discuss.
Across the first half of the session he spoke about reaching 100 caps for his country, and his desire to sign a new contract with the union next year.
The conversation then moved into a broader discussion about his journey with Ireland to this point, one which began against Fiji on a wet November night at the RDS back in 2009, but almost started a week earlier on the other side of the city.
“The week before (my debut) I was on the bench for the Australia game and I remember Paddy Wallace went down with a blood injury and I had the kit off as quickly as I could to try and get on the pitch,” Sexton remembers.
“I was on the pitch in Croke Park but then Paddy jumped backed up, got strapped and played on, and I was gutted. For the early part of that week I was devastated that I didn’t get on, but I suppose the abiding memory of the Fiji game was how bad the weather was.
“I’ll never forget lining up for the anthem and obviously it’s strange getting your first cap in the RDS but I remember lining up going: ‘What did I do to deserve getting my first cap in this weather?’ But thankfully we put in a good performance and a good win.
Then obviously my first big game was the following week against South Africa which was a huge game and you could feel the difference in a test week like that compared to the week previously. You looked around the room and people were just different. The attitude was different and that was my first real taste of Test rugby I think.”
As we now know, Sexton was hardly lacking in the attitude department himself. He also had the game to back it up. After that Fiji game, Sexton tucked the man of the match award into his bag alongside his first cap.
Ninety-nine caps down the line, he’s still Ireland’s leading man at 10. He’s also Ireland’s captain, a winner of three Six Nations titles, one Grand Slam and was World Rugby Player of the Year as recently as three years ago.
There’s been lows too, of course, some of which are still fresh in the memory. Rewind a few months and Sexton’s durability was publicly being question by Warren Gatland just moments after the Leinster out-half had learned he wasn’t going to be on the plane to South Africa.
Being overlooked for the Lions was one thing, but Gatland’s words added an unwanted narrative around a player who actually prides himself on his resilience and longevity.
This is his first time back in Ireland camp since missing out on the last Lions tour of his career. Surely, some part of him wants to lay down a personal marker and prove that he still belongs at the top of international rugby?
“When you’re bouncing back from things you would have liked to go your way, you have a chip on your shoulder and want to prove things to people,” he continues.
“But that won’t do anyone any good if I go out by myself and try and do it, it’s very much about the team. There’s a bigger picture at play here, with all the things I’ve spoken about previously, answering the questions, but not putting in a performance – it’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
At 36, does external noise or criticism still play a role in what motivates him?
“Maybe a tiny bit, but it’s not the driving factor behind what keeps me motivated.
“Obviously, the setbacks I had during the summer gave me a little boost but I still think that even if I’d gone on a Lions tour and played in the Tests, I still would have come back driven, I’d like to think.
I have done on previous Lions tours – coming back and having good seasons off the back of them but, yeah, it does give you that extra boost to get you out of bed that bit earlier and do the extras and thankfully the season has started well, but these are the big games, these are the games for the big players to step up.”
As Sexton says himself, he was learning how to process major disappointments long before he was winning some of the biggest prizes in the game. Hard as it is to imagine now, there was even a time when he wasn’t sure that being himself was good enough.
“I think I learned a good lesson early on in my career when Isa Nacewa got signed by Leinster. He was probably signed as a 10 and Cheiks was always on to me about how well Isa attacked the line and how well he did this and that,” Sexton explains.
“He was playing 10 all the time and I started to try and be like him… and I wasn’t doing what I do. That was why I lost form at the start of that year. I was trying to prove to him that I could play like Isa or Felipe (Contepomi). I had to play to my strengths.
“I think that carried through with me. You’ve got to control what you’re good at and try to put that out on the pitch.”
That lesson has served him well. Against Japan on Saturday, he’s set to become just the seventh player to hit 100 caps for Ireland.
For some observers, the sight of a 36-year-old veteran still leading the team feels uncomfortable. Yet focus purely on performances, and it’s hard to look beyond him – after all, there’s a reason his Lions omission generated so many headlines.
Who knows where this journey will end. Sexton hopes to sign a new contract with the IRFU next year and would clearly love to reach the 2023 World Cup, but last week acknowledged that one injury can change everything.
For now, he just wants to deliver a strong set of performances for Ireland across these next three Tests. That burning desire to be the best hasn’t diluted just yet.
“I think the day that that isn’t the case I’ll walk away, 100%, but it’s there at the moment. I hope it’s been evident in my performances for Leinster over the five games (this season) that I’m still hungry, and I feel I am.
”I’m still nervous about this week. I still want to put in a big performance and win the games. It’s all the same so far.”
