Leinster keeping faith in ace Sexton

MICHAEL CHEIKA has given the seal of approval to Jonathan Sexton’s Six Nations displays and believes he will be a key figure in Leinster’s Heineken Cup defence.

Critics of Sexton were summarily dismissed by Cheika who said yesterday: “I think he has been pretty good (in the series). I think there’s been a bit too much made of it all (Sexton’s performances). It’s a bit dramatic, all the reaction.

“The way he has played in the championship has been very good, he played some of the best attacking and defensive football I’ve ever seen from him.

“I was really happy to see him play like that, because he could have stayed more conservative.”

Cheika believes Leinster will ultimately benefit from those performances.

“During his absence Shaun (Berne) has been controlling the ship really well. Now we’re going to have the option of playing two playmakers, or playing Fergus (McFadden) and Eoin O’Malley or a mix of them with Brian (O’Driscoll) and Gordon (D’Arcy), but Jonathan’s curve has been awesome this year and he is going to add so much for us.”

Sexton is included in the Leinster squad for Saturday’s Magners League clash with Connacht at the RDS (4.30pm) and Cheika may have to ask the youngster to make an immediate return given that Berne is carrying an Achilles tendon injury.

Either way, the coach is looking for victory and is in no mood to tolerate anything less against a team that sees them as a huge target.

“Connacht clearly target the Leinster fixture as wins; they obviously feel they can beat us. We have to react to that because that’s not how we want teams to approach us. We want them to be worried about us although they have every reason to think that way because they got the win on us last year. But for us, this is a home fixture and this one is very important to allow us settle our place within the top four.”

Cheika moves to Stade Francais next season and vows his remaining time at Leinster will be “10 of the biggest weeks of my career here”.

He said: “I’m very conscious of the fact that there’s still so much to do with this club (Leinster). If I take my eye off the ball for one minute, we’re going to miss that chance. I’ve got 10 of the biggest weeks of my career here. We’ve an opportunity to progress in both tournaments but every week is so important and I want to get the most out of the time I’ve have left here.”