‘BALANCE’ WAS THE word Johnny Sexton opted for when asked to assess the current state of the Ireland rugby squad yesterday.
Andy Farrell’s group for the autumn internationals includes plenty of familiar faces, but there is also a welcome injection of youth, with a total of 13 players who have less than 10 international caps to their name included.
Sexton, who will win his 100th cap next time he wears the green jersey, very much sits at one end of that scale, and he knows it.
“There’s still a few old heads knocking about, which I’m going to say you need in a squad,” he said, speaking at a media event to launch the autumn internationals.
The usual questions still surround Sexton regarding his durability, with his omission from the summer Lions tour only bringing more scrutiny.
To Sexton – and Farrell – it’s all just noise. When Sexton is fit, he plays.
The Ireland captain looked sharp across Leinster’s opening United Rugby Championship games and yesterday confirmed he is fit and ready to go for the clash with Japan on Saturday week following a hip problem.
If all goes to plan, he will line out when New Zealand come to Lansdowne Road on November 13.
At 36, Sexton remains the best out-half available to Farrell by a distance. Over the past few years, he’s settled into the role of veteran leader nicely.
“I’ve always tried to be there for people,” Sexton explains.
“I try not to be overbearing going to young lads and pushing things on them but I am always there for them if they want to sit down and talk to me.
That’s always the way I was. I learned more looking at people over the years. I had some great role models in Leinster and in Ireland and I was like a sponge, but I never once tapped them on the shoulder. I used to watch them every day and listen to what they used to say so it is important that you lead by example and be the role model on the pitch, and you’ll develop people that way.”
Away from the bright lights of a Lions tour, he tried to lead by example again over the summer.
Having missed out on Warren Gatland’s squad, he spend a full pre-season with Leinster for the first time since he was ‘a young lad’. He made a point of driving standards with the province’s younger players while also doing his own extras in a bid to come back sharper and stronger this season – those comments by Gatland no doubt ringing in his ears.
“I did work hard. I went out to Santry for a few weeks. I worked with the guy out there, Enda King, who I’ve worked with previously during that Lions block. I thought in my own head I could be on standby (for the Lions), so I wanted to try and keep fit.
“Then I came back and did Leinster pre-season… I trained almost every day and I was managed well, I will say, by the Leinster S&C staff but it’s just that unbroken block when you don’t have to sit out two weeks with a strain or a knock, and I suppose that stood to me.”
Training looks different for Sexton now. Over the years, he’s learned how to manage his body and his workload accordingly.
“You’re always changing, you’re always trying to improve. I try to do something different and sometimes you hit something that sticks and you get a bounce off it and you don’t have an injury for ages.
“I had some great role models,” he continues.
“In Leinster, we had Brad Thorn who came to us at 37 and we won a European Cup together. He was one of the guys I looked at in awe at times. I used to watch him every day when he was there – for five or six months – and learnt a lot from him in terms of preparation.
“Paul O’Connell was another one with Ireland who played until the same age I am now. He was so professional.
You need a little bit of luck as well. You are only one injury away from finishing and I’ve been blessed with as long a career as I’ve had. Someone I thought was one of the best professionals I ever played with was Jamie Heaslip and he had his career finished by tackling a tackle bag before a game and hurt his back. It’s crazy how it can finish.
“I am always trying to stay on top of things, doing those 1%’s that will hopefully make a difference. It’s been far from perfect, every athlete, every rugby player gets injured and I’ve done that over the years but it’s part of the game as well.”
For the most part, it’s working. Sexton spoke yesterday about how this Ireland group have already discussed the 2023 World Cup. At the moment, you imagine he’s still very much part of those plans.
“Obviously you are always looking behind you to a certain extent, but I have always been very forward-thinking as well – trying to look after myself and trying to make sure I am the best I can be.
If there’s young guys coming behind you who are doing great stuff, you can still only control yourself. And that’s been my focus, especially in my thirties, to get the best version of myself out there.
“I haven’t always done it but I have tried to. But there is some great talent coming through. The two guys (in this squad), or three guys if you include Frawls (Ciarán Frawley) as a 10 – they have got all the things they need to be a top quality international.
“It’s up to them to display the right attitude to go and do it. It’s a bumpy road at 10. I didn’t get my first cap until 24.
“These guys are much further along the road than I was at that age. I was stuck behind Felipe (Contepomi) at Leinster and I felt like my career was going nowhere.
“You just have to be ready when the day comes and those guys have got what it takes. They just have to channel it, work hard and be ready to bounce back from adversity as well.”
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