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Peter O'Mahony: How Johnny Sexton 'changed rugby for the better'
Johnny Sexton insists there is plenty left to come in his distinguished career as he seeks to cap a Guinness Six Nations swansong by guiding Ireland to Grand Slam glory in a cup final against England. Captain Sexton will make his 60th and final appearance of the championship on Saturday when Steve Borthwick’s side arrive in Dublin bidding to ruin the St Patrick’s weekend party.
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The 37-year-old retains aspirations of leading his country into the autumn World Cup in France after which he plans to retire, while a Champions Cup final with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in May also remains a possibility. Sexton talked down the personal significance of the crunch weekend showdown and is hopeful there is a lot more of the journey left.
“This is the last Six Nations game but there is so much ahead, please God, if I stay lucky and avoid injuries,” said the Leinster fly-half, who is poised for his 113th Ireland outing. “There is hopefully a World Cup, there is hopefully some knockout games with Leinster ahead in the Aviva, so I am trying to get away from the fact that it’s this big last thing.
“It’s just a cup final and that is all we are thinking about. You are playing England at home with something on the line, so it’s always what you have wanted to do and where you wanted to be. It’s not the last game with this team, well I certainly hope not. We have got a lot more of the journey left so I’m not really thinking like that.”
Sexton made his full Six Nations debut in a 2010 victory away to England and has won the competition on three occasions, including the 2018 Grand Slam. Ireland are bidding for a fourth clean sweep overall, albeit a first one secured in Dublin after the 1948, 2009 and 2018 triumphs were clinched in Belfast, Cardiff and London respectively.
“That is the bit that we spoke about from the start: it has never been done at home,” said Sexton, who moved level with former Ireland teammate Ronan O’Gara as the Six Nations’ all-time leading point scorer by taking his tally to 557 in last weekend’s win in Scotland. “It’s something that we identified very early and said, ‘imagine this happening, imagine having a shot at it at home in front of your family, friends’ and now it’s a big occasion.
“It’s about dealing with that, embracing it and getting a good performance out there that warrants putting us in a position to win the game. I have got a bit more emotional as I have gone on so will definitely be trying to hold that back but use it as well because it will hopefully be a special day.”
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Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony said long-term international colleague Sexton has changed rugby. “I can’t sit here and sum it up for you, it’s been too big a career, too important a career, too long a career to sit here and sum it up in a few words,” said O’Mahony.
“He has changed rugby, changed Irish rugby, obviously for the better. He teaches people what it is like to be a professional, what it is like to be a proper Irishman. All these things add to the occasion. But these are things we have spoken about and everyone has acknowledged and put to one side for 80 minutes.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments