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Sexton to join Connacht as assistant attack coach

By Ian Cameron
Ireland assisant coach Mark Sexton before the U20 Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and England at Musgrave Park in Cork. (Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Ireland U20s attack coach Mark Sexton is set to join Connacht as an assistant attack coach, the province have confirmed.

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Sexton – a younger brother of Ireland flyhalf Johnny – will assist current head coach Pete Wilkins, who will retain overall responsibility for the side’s attack next season.

Sexton currently works with the Connacht academy as an Elite Player Development Officer in addition to the attack coach role he has assumed for the last two Grand Slam winning with the Ireland U20s.

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His appointment completes the new coaching ticket for Connacht Rugby next season.

Wilkins says: “Mark’s appointment is another positive step for us. He’s an excellent coach who we know very well and who has benefitted from his experience with our Academy and with the Ireland U20s. Mark has a strong understanding of what we are trying to do from an attacking point of view and more importantly how we can move this forward again next season. His knowledge of our younger players – both in the Academy and those who have recently graduated to our Pro team is another valuable perspective to have within our management team and I look forward to working closely with him in his new role.

With the coaching team now complete, I’m incredibly excited to get going for next season and to build on the progress we have made over the last few years. We’ve assembled a group that provides a good balance of continuity and change, both within the management team and within the squad. Coupled with our return to the Champions Cup there is a lot to look forward to and the hard work begins when we gather for pre-season training in early July.”

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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