THE FALLOUT RUMBLES on.
A pre-match press conference in name, but the narrative continues to revolve solely around Johnny Sexton, despite the fact the Leinster captain is not even involved in tonight’s inter-pro against Ulster.
Sexton’s captaincy style in the aftermath of last weekend’s defeat to Munster remains in sharp focus, with no shortage of column inches and airtime given to former team-mates and Ireland captains in recent days. It has been Johnny this, Johnny that.
Brian O’Driscoll described Sexton as ‘antagonistic’ and the manner in which he deals with referees — Frank Murphy in this instance — as part of the job remit can have a ‘negative knock-on effect’ for his team, while Keith Wood went so far as to say the out-half ‘lost it’ at Thomond Park last weekend.
Leinster backs coach Felipe Contepomi moved to defend Sexton earlier in the week, re-emphasising the 33-year-old’s captaincy credentials and reminding everybody how his personality — however fiery — has helped him become the best player in the world.
And yesterday it was the turn of Leo Cullen, who was again faced with questions about his captain’s temperament and whether there is too much pressure on Sexton to perform the role alongside his other responsibilities as the place-kicking out-half.
“We always deal with the fallout from any game — win or lose,” the Leinster head coach said, when asked if they have taken lessons from the defeat in Limerick.
“We will do our review and analyse as much as we can, pull it apart, talk to the relevant people about so many different aspects of the game.
The way we communicate, the way we manage officials on the day, what were the messages going into the game and how did we respond to the environment. There’s plenty of things we didn’t get right about the game.
“There’s lots for us to focus on this week. It is a timely reminder for us really because it doesn’t cost us massively, in terms of league standings. But, it has cost us a suspension and a bit more scrutiny and pressure on us as well.
“We just need to understand why we get ourselves in that situation where we are, at one stage, down to 13 men and down on the scoreboard. It is not just one incident.”
Cullen, who captained both Leinster and Leicester Tigers during his playing career, was pressed on what makes Sexton a good captain.
“Well his drive for the team to be successful and to maximise their potential,” he explains.
“He is someone who is literally maximising his potential, that’s why he’s world player of the year, he had an incredible year last year, the drive, the hunger he has to be successful, that’s what sets him apart from everybody else.
“At times, that’s when you’re right to the edge, sometimes you might tip over the edge, that’s the fine line he operates in. That’s what makes him the player that he is, and lots of the great players have been like that. You know, I haven’t heard all the commentary over the week but there have been captains over the course of time in various different sports who have been on that edge.”
Like Martin Johnson?
“Yeah, someone like that, they’re abrasive characters, they want their team to do well, they want to try and impose themselves on the game as well, they feel the weight, they want to bring everybody with them. That can be a tough space to operate in, with all the scrutiny that’s put on them.”
Rob Kearney, sitting beside Cullen at the top of the RDS press room, captains Leinster against Ulster tonight. He has limited experience in the role, but was asked for his opinion on last weekend’s events in Limerick.
“I think the other guys around him [Sexton] have to take responsibility for it too,” the fullback said. “If our discipline is really good and we manage the start of the game and we don’t get caught in some of those positions, Johnny probably doesn’t have to talk to the ref, so he was probably a little frustrated at the team’s discipline and it rolled on into a little bit of frustration from himself coming out.
“So there’s an onus on everyone around the captain to ensure our team’s discipline is as good as possible and then the referee becomes a little bit irrelevant.
“I’ve only done it twice so I don’t have a huge amount of experience with it. But yeah, if it’s anything set piece you get one of the forward to chat with the ref, you don’t want to be running back and forth every few minutes. Like I said, if our discipline’s on a good level, we shouldn’t need much dialogue with the referee.”
In that case, is it too much to ask of Sexton to act as playmaker, concentrate on his place-kicking and also liaise with the referee? Does his occasional fractious exchanges with the referee make him a good candidate for the role?
“There’s other people in the team we’d share the load and responsibility with,” Cullen continues.
But it’s definitely something we’re very conscious of, always. What Rob talks about — for a 15 captaining, how far logistically he is away from the referee, so its always important there’s someone else who can communicate with the referee and we’ll prep them up or…like Isa [Nacewa], the most common example over the last few seasons, he could be at fullback or on the wing, so he’s quite far from the action.
“We’ve had games like last year, the semi-final in Europe, Johnny was captain that day so we do change things, we’re conscious of where people are and how we support each other.
“It’s never on one person, that’s not what we’re about. There’s the team on the field, we’re all in it together. You can pick one person out of a performance, but it’s my fault, it’s the selector’s fault for putting these guys out there in the first place, we’re all responsible.”
It’ll be good to have some actual rugby to talk about come teatime this evening.
Gavan Casey, Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne preview the weekend’s action:
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