Patience a virtue as Sexton arrives

ONE can only speculate as to the response of the Fijian players when they drew the curtains in their hotel rooms every morning last week to be greeted by rain, rain and more rain.

Those conditions are alien to them and it made a bad situation worse for the visitors with so many of their quality players discouraged by their employers to make themselves available for selection on this tour.

Spare a thought too for Jonny Sexton in the build-up to this game. He has waited patently to emulate the achievements of his younger team mates Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney and Cian Healy and win that elusive first cap.