Sixteen weeks after he last played for them, Leinster give update on Johnny Sexton's availability
Johnny Sexton has yet to play for Leinster in 2019, but assistant coach Stuart Lancaster is confident the Ireland out-half will finally be declared fit to make his long-awaited provincial comeback.
Sexton was initially injured in a PRO14 match at Munster on December 29 and while he recovered to start all five matches for Ireland in the Six Nations, he returned to his club with a quad issue and has yet to play since his country’s March 16 Six Nations defeat to Wales.
That lay-off has meant Sexton hasn’t been seen provincially in nearly 16 weeks, but Lancaster has provided grounds for optimism that he will face Toulouse in Dublin in next Sunday’s European semi-final.
Lancaster said on Tuesday: “Yeah, he has trained today. Much can happen between now and the weekend but he has trained today… he’s fine to go. It’s good to get him back.
“It’s not just him. You have fingers crossed that Robbie (Henshaw) will come through. He’s just back. Dev Toner as well. There is a lot of players who have been out with injury who we have been waiting to get back and it’s nice to get them back this week.
"It's good to get him back."
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— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 16, 2019
“It was good last week as well. Obviously, disappointing to lose (to Glasgow) but for Seanie (O’Brien) to get another game under his belt, it allowed us to rest James Ryan, Jack Conan and Garry Ringrose so they are fresh for this week. We’re looking in a decent shape injury wise… Tadhg (Furlong) should be okay.”
In this third season at Leinster, former England boss Lancaster has experienced emotions at opposite ends of the spectrum concerning the Irish province in recent European semi-finals.
They were beaten by Clermont in Lyon 24 months ago but bounced back last year to beat Scarlets in Dublin en route to lifting the trophy for the first time since 2012. They are now facing Toulouse for the third time this season having placed each other in winter pool matches where the results in Ireland and France went in favour of the home side.
“Everything’s on the line in a semi-final,” said Lancaster. “We found that two years ago when we lost against Clermont. The pain of losing that semi-final is still etched in everyone’s memory.
“We will prepare well because we know Toulouse well but equally they will know us inside out as well. Their ability to prepare and scout against us was impressive. We could see they clearly understood what they were trying to do against us and it’s one-all in the series.
"Everything's on the line in a semi-final."
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— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 17, 2019
“When you are a coach you draw on both experiences. You draw on the positives of winning a final last year, the adaptability we showed in that final, the positivity of beating a quality side like Saracens in a quarter-final and Scarlets in a semi-final.
“They were both at home and you draw on all that, but also you would be naive not to learn from when you have lost in the past as well. Whether it was Glasgow at the weekend, what could we have done better, we never skip around a difficult conversation about a review.
“We always draw learning from it so we can become a better team. If you have always got that mindset then you are always going to be there or thereabouts. Often sometimes the easy thing to do is ignore the difficult scenarios or the defeats, but actually that is sometimes the best learning.”
WATCH: The RugbyPass fly-on-the-wall look at the 2018 PRO14 final
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments