Sexton: We must give it 80 minutes

Jonathan Sexton trotted out for training at the RDS yesterday sporting a nasty looking gash down the left side of his neck.

Whether it was a souvenir of Leinster’s win in Ravenhill last Friday or his part in the pitch invasion that greeted St Mary’s defeat of Young Munster to win the Ulster Bank League at Templeville Road the following day is another matter.

That latter success was assured thanks to the intervention of his brother Mark, whose postponement of a hip operation allowed him take the field as a replacement and score two tries in the 23-19 win.

What the Irish out-half would do for a repeat in Bordeaux this weekend.

Leinster travel to France to face a team whose try line has not been breached once in four games and one which, with a roster impressive for its depth and quality, is all but a Gallic version of the similarly in-form European champions.

“We’ve had some tough games over the last few weeks,” said Sexton. “We probably haven’t played our best, but we know this weekend we will have to be at our best and we have to do it for 80 minutes, something that we probably haven’t done all season.

“We’ve had bursts where we’ve put teams away and then not had the ball but defended well, so we’re going to have to be at our best with the ball.”

Meanwhile Leinster and Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek has expressed his confidence in Cian Healy’s setpiece abilities after the loosehead was singled out as a potential weak link on Clermont Auvergne’s club website.

The French outfit pointed to difficulties experienced by Healy during the recent Six Nations while Sunday’s tie in Bordeaux will bring back unwanted memories of his last European semi-final on French soil.

Only half an hour was played against Toulouse 24 months ago when Michael Cheika hauled Healy to the sidelines and the image of the Dubliner head bent and covered by a towel on the bench resonates to this day.

Toulouse prop Dan Human singled the now 26-year old out for special praise after Leinster avenged that defeat with a tight quarter-final win at Lansdowne Road last year and, as Feek pointed out, Clermont won’t be the first side to target him.

“With Cian, it’s the way he plays the game, as well as how he scrums and they will appreciate that. He carries the ball physically and he can do things many other props can’t. He flies into things at a hundred miles an hour. So, it does take things out of him to be able to play that sort of rugby week in, week out. When he looks after his body and is well-rested mentally and physically he can compete with the best so we have full confidence in Cian knowing what he is up against.”

Meanwhile, Leinster will face the fourth-placed team in the RaboDirect PRO12 play-off at the RDS on Saturday May 12, while the Ospreys, confirmed as second seeds, will meet the third-placed team on Friday May 11 at the Liberty Stadium.

Munster and Glasgow Warriors sit third and fourth, respectively, at present. Ulster and the Scarlets are still mathematically in the shake-up for the top four although both require other results to fall their way.