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
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments