What do we do with Johnny? Getting the Sexton selection balancing act crucial for next month

As Johnny Sexton sat out Ireland’s first full training session of the week yesterday, the Ireland management has been wrestling with a familiar conundrum.

Where Sexton is concerned, it is about striking the right balance between getting match minutes into the out-half and keeping their prize asset out of the firing line before the World Cup quarter-finals.

Such is the importance of Sexton, 34, to the Irish cause that the playmaker has long been the target for opponents and his willingness to put his body on the line only aids their mission.

There was a stark reminder of the threat posed to the 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year last weekend when Scotland assistant coach Matt Taylor aired his team’s objective to “smash” Sexton, just as they had done during this year’s Six Nations encounter at Murrayfield.

The Scots will need no reminding that they finished on the losing side both times but they at least met one of their objectives.

Sexton was withdrawn after just 24 minutes in Edinburgh last February and though he was on the pitch for 58 in Yokohama last Sunday before being withdrawn in a tactical switch, an early bang on his quad muscle meant he relinquished goal-kicking duties midway through the first half, Conor Murray taking over until Jack Carty replaced the No. 10.

“He got a bit of a bang on the leg,” skills and kicking coach Richie Murphy said yesterday of Sexton.

“He just didn’t feel comfortable to kick during the game so we have no problem passing over the duties. Conor has done it before for us.

"He’s not a regular kicker for Munster but when he comes into camp we have him lined up as number two on the pitch. He passed over the duties and Conor took them on.

“Johnny went through some rehab today. He did some work with the team but has been monitored. We’ll expect to train fully on Thursday and that wouldn’t be unusual for him not to train two days after a Test match.”

So back to the initial question. With Sexton playing only 63 minutes against Wales in pre-season on September 7, how do Ireland balance the need for more game-time with an equally important need to protect him for the important games?

“It is a balance,” Murphy said. “The one thing is the evidence of what we’ve seen before, that he can come in and play fresh and do a good job.

“So it’s a case of when he’s right, getting in the game-time and if he’s not, then you have to try and put in some of the other guys. Jack and Joey (Carberry) have done a good job over the last few weeks and the last couple of years so we’re quite happy with those guys if they have to play.”

With hosts Japan likely the only team left in Pool A to pose a threat to Ireland’s quarter-final ambitions coming up on Saturday in Stadium Shizuoka Ecopa, just six days after the 27-3 defeat of Scotland, head coach Joe Schmidt has a similar balance to strike, between the need to field a strong side to see off the Japanese and the necessity of freshening things up after an attritional Test match, with an even shorter turnaround to Russia in Kobe five days later.

“The first thing is we have a lot of respect for Japan,” Murphy said.

They’re a very, very good side and they’ve proven that over the last couple of years. The team we pick at the weekend will be the team we believe is the right team to play a Test match after six days. There could be some rotation but it will be a strong team focused on beating Japan.

With scrum-half Conor Murray converting just one of his three admittedly difficult chances from the tee against the Scots, the need for a reliable goal-kicker is paramount and if Sexton is on the pitch it is reasonable to want the main man putting boot to stationary ball.

Murphy insisted there was confidence in all of Ireland’s goal-kickers, including Murray, whom he defended by saying: “He missed one from the touchline and one from the 10m line. It is a balance, yes, but we’re happy to get Johnny on the pitch and we’ve every faith in Conor as a goal-kicker.

When you get a bang in the quad as a kicker it can affect your goal-kicking. So if it’s a case that he’s affected like he was at the weekend, we’re obviously not going to risk him in that regard.

“He was fully fine to do everything else and kicked out of hand with no problem. Kicking off the ground uses a different muscle group.

“We have utmost faith in our other out-halves. Jack came on against Scotland and did really well. Whichever one of them was called on — if Johnny was out — we have no problem they can come in.

“Johnny is a certain type of athlete and a certain type of rugby player that plays the game his way. These guys can come into and fit into our group but still be themselves. That’s important. They have to be themselves.”