Lions coach says Johnny Sexton needs game time

“Johnny is pretty important. Not just for the way he controls the game but in what he brings to the team.”

Warren Gatland’s reaction to Jonathan Sexton’s injury troubles raised a few eyebrows back in December but the Lions coach offered a more measured view when asked about the latest fitness issues for the man who was his key playmaker in Australia in 2013, writes Brendan O’Brien.

The Kiwi has a habit of merging one unfinished sentence and stream of thought into another, and it can sometimes make for some confusion, but he was crystal clear eight weeks ago in declaring the importance to Sexton of a good Six Nations run and the pressure he was under to be fit and in form.