Sexton: ‘I thought I had played my last game for Leinster’

LET’S rewind the tape back six weeks or so to The Stoop. Leinster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Harlequins is still a few hours away.

Munster’s game against the Ospreys is on TV in one of the hospitality lounges.

Few who watched that game could fail to be captivated by the majesty of Munster’s performance, but Jonathan Sexton merely sat there, head down, fiddling idly with his mobile phone.

Suspended after an alleged kick at Lifeimi Mafi the week before, he had much to mull over. The incident at Thomond Park was evidence of an impetuous streak that had yet to be curbed and his form had bottomed out.

He had auditioned for the out-half role along with Isa Nacewa prior to Christmas but neither man earned the leading role and Michael Cheika finally lost patience with the Dubliner one freezing night in Castres.

When the teams ran out for the second half Sexton was nowhere to be seen, replaced by an unfit Felipe Contepomi who hadn’t played a game in over six weeks at the time. It was a huge call.

Even then there was a sense that Sexton’s chance had gone. He felt so himself. “At that stage, I thought I had played my last game for Leinster. I thought my Leinster career was over.”

At one point, he was linked with a switch to Perpignan. Stagnation set in for the next four months, which he spent making the odd brief cameo in place of Contepomi, but the first sign of a rebirth came with an eye-catching second-half against Glasgow at the RDS last month.

Then Contepomi ruptured his cruciate ligament in Croke Park against Munster and the door was flung open again. Sexton didn’t need to be asked twice and he backed that up with another commanding performance two days ago.

“I’m just happy I got back in there. It’s a pity Felipe got injured to make way for it, but I’m delighted. He helped me hugely. He spoke to me before the game and just said, ‘you go out there and try to win man of the match and you’ll f**k up’.

“He said: ‘just go out there and play for the team and, if you do that, then your performance will take care of itself’. That’s what I tried to do.” He succeeded admirably.

Bernard Jackman summed up his display perfectly by saying Sexton had showed great “liathroidi”. His drop goal from halfway will live longest in the memory but his kicking from hand was never short of superb all day.

“Jonny was very funny,” said Malcolm O’Kelly. “He said to me, and it stuck in my head throughout the match, that ‘there was nothing we can do about it, we are actually going to win this match. It’s written’.

“That unerring belief certainly helped him kick that drop goal.”

And it had been an awful few days leading up to it too. Sexton hardly got a minute of shut eye for days beforehand and only a sleeping pill allowed him get a few hours on Friday night.

Once he got to the ground, the nerves took their leave. Once on the pitch he had no hesitation in barking at men ten years older. He never has been a shrinking violet but he seemed to enjoy it too.

“That’s how highly everyone thinks of him,” said Chris Whitaker. “There was no chat about looking after him or anything like that. Sexto led the game out there, and he called the shots, and that’s a big effort from someone so young.

“I suppose he was a little bit behind Felipe this year but for him to come on shows the quality of, not only his game, but of his mentality. He’s maturing, he’s coming on and wants to call the shots.

“I think he has all the attributes. His kicking game is spot-on and his running game is taking off. This year he’s playing the ball a lot better than I’ve seen him do over the last three years. He’s definitely one for the future.”

Then again, there is no time like the present. Ronan O’Gara is still the man in possession but how much of a relief is it that Ireland finally have someone ready and able to fill his boots?

Contepomi knows his deputy better than anyone and he believes he is ready.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he is the next (Ireland) number 10, and sooner rather than later. You can see he has a lot to learn and, as a 10, you only get it by playing games. That’s it. He’s very good in defence, a very good distributor, a good kicker. He has everything and he showed his temperament. He had to kick a penalty to win the game and he stood up and kicked it. It’s great for Irish rugby to have a player so young coming.”