Team-mates unfazed by Sexton’s Mr Angry persona
Of all the theories put forward for Ireland’s Six Nations wobble the suggestion that Jonathan Sexton’s bark has bitten into the team’s morale seems to be the biggest stretch.
Among those voicing such a claim is Tony Ward, a predecessor of Sexton’s in the green No.10 shirt who floated the idea in his newspaper column this week on the back of some very public venting of emotions on the part of the reigning world player of the year.
Sexton was in a particularly crabby mood when Leinster lost to Munster in Thomond Park in a Guinness PRO14 encounter in late December and he let loose a few choice words when leaving the Stadio Olimpico pitch with a few minutes remaining two weekends ago.
Add to that his obvious displeasure with some of the tackles he has shipped across the last few weeks and it adds up to a man who could clearly be in better form but one whose perfectionist leanings weren’t ever deemed to be negatives when club and country were claiming silverware.
“That’s Johnny, isn’t it? We’re a little bit used to it,” said Rob Kearney, his Leinster and Ireland teammate.
We all get frustrated and we all show our frustration in different ways. I’ve played with Johnny for 15-odd years so I’m the wrong person to ask.
Kearney grinned when asked if he had ever been on the receiving end of Sexton’s sharp tongue. “Weekly,” he said. “Johnny understands the game very well and is very clear in how he wants to play it. That’s his way of communicating it.”
Joe Schmidt will name his squad for the French game today and there is, as ever, mixed news on the injury front, the most discouraging coming in the forms of Robbie Henshaw and Dan Leavy who are rehabbing injury issues with Leinster rather than Ireland. That pair are certainly ruled out.
Both were in Belfast last week for the side’s three-day training camp but Henshaw’s ‘dead leg’ issue has been “improving more slowly than expected” according to an IRFU statement while Leavy hasn’t played since November with a calf problem.
The counterbalance to those slivers of negative news come in the shape of Joey Carbery whose hamstring injury is progressing well — he will still be ‘managed’ this week — and Andrew Conway who has shrugged off a cramp suffered away to Italy last month.
CJ Stander, Tadhg Beirne, Jordan Larmour, and Garry Ringrose are others to return to fitness, and camp, since the Roman expedition while Schmidt will also have the option of using Rory Best, Cian Healy, and James Ryan, all of whom were rested for that bonus-point win.
Ireland will face Wales in Cardiff just six days after the visit of France to Dublin and Schmidt has spoken more than once about how this will serve as a tailor-made dry run for the Scotland and Japan games with which the side will open their World Cup pool campaign.
