How Sexton’s speech salvaged Leinster’s cup dream

JONATHAN SEXTON’S half-time speech to his team-mates has already entered rugby folklore for the way it inspired a remarkable turnaround in the province’s fortunes.

In disarray after shipping three first-half tries to a rampant Northampton side and trailing by 16 points, Leinster were by common consent dead and buried. That was until the 25-year-old’s words echoed around the Millennium Stadium dressing room and lifted the Irish side to a sublime fight back that had turned a 22-6 deficit into a 23-22 lead just 17 minutes after the restart, Sexton himself scoring two tries, two conversions and a penalty to lay the platform for the famous 33-22 victory.

“Besides what he produced in the second half, some of his words at half-time really struck a chord with a lot of people,” Brian O’Driscoll said.