Sexton: It’s not about me and Ronan

Earlier this week, Rob Penney talked about tomorrow’s Leinster-Munster game and how one of its attractions was its status as a quasi-Irish trial game but Jonathan Sexton was quick to play down any head-to-head subplots yesterday.

The Leinster out-half has been bracketed with Ronan O’Gara since his full debut in Thomond Park in 2006 and has had to contend with chatter about the pair’s contest for the green jersey on every one of the 13 other occasions on which they have faced off since.

“It’s not about me versus Ronan O’Gara,” said Sexton, who has started Ireland’s last eight Tests. “It’s Leinster versus Munster. That’s the way. I’ve never looked at it as a one-on-one battle like a loose head versus a tight head.

“There are so many other things going on around you. Often it’s very unfair to compare player against player after a game because one pack is on top or the other pack is on top and there are so many things that you rely on. So I’ve never really looked at it as a one-on-one battle.”

Though he was keen to stress the collective, the rivalry has invariably been a good one for Sexton personally. He has won nine times and lost only five and his victories include a breakthrough display in the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park.

“I’ve had a lot of really big games against them,” said Sexton, whose parents hail from Kerry, “and they all seem to be the same. They all seem to come down to the last 10, 15 minutes bar one or two games.

“They’re special and I always get texts from uncles saying, ‘I hope you play well, score a bag full of points, get man of the match and lose’ so that’s the way it is.

“It’s different for me but they always support me.”