Sexton promises rousing BOD bow

Jonathan Sexton has promised Ireland players will do everything possible to ensure Brian O’Driscoll finishes his Test career on a high.

O’Driscoll, 34, was a shock omission from the Lions squad that faced Australia in the third Test on Saturday at ANZ Stadium and watched from the stands as Sexton and his squad-mates secured a first series win in 16 years in a 41-16 drubbing of the Wallabies.

Yet, despite the abrupt end to O’Driscoll’s four-tour Lions career, Sexton vowed to give the Irish icon the best possible final international campaign before the outside centre retires at the end of the 2013-14.

With Sexton playing his last game for Leinster before the Lions tour and joining up with Racing Metro next season, the Ireland fly-half will have only a maximum eight Tests to play alongside O’Driscoll before he quits, as Joe Schmidt’s tenure as national coach begins with the November Tests against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand and continues into the 2014 Six Nations.

“Obviously we all pictured him being captain and lifting the trophy, which would have been a great way for him to go,” Sexton said. “Maybe it’s going to finish on a different note. Maybe he’s going to lift another Grand Slam. We’ll do everything as Irish players for him to finish on a high. He deserves that and we’ll give everything. Maybe the All Blacks would be a good one and then a Grand Slam.”

Sexton, who turns 28 on Thursday, was caught in a dilemma when his friend and club mate O’Driscoll was dropped by Warren Gatland ahead of the biggest game of his career, the Lions head coach preferring an all-Welsh midfield combination of Jamie Roberts and his replacement at 13, Jonathan Davies, a situation relieved by the victory over the Wallabies.

“Because I’m so close to Brian when he wasn’t picked it was tough for me. It almost felt like I was dropped myself, that he wasn’t going to be there for it. But, as a professional sportsman, you’re quite selfish in many ways as well, so after consoling with him for a few minutes it was then getting down to business.

“Jon is obviously an outstanding player. His left boot did some great work tonight, and there were a couple of nice offloads, so he had an outstanding game, but for Brian to miss out from an Irish point of view was devastating for him and as a close friend I was really sad to not see him there.

“But, like I said, he’s delighted in (the dressing room). That shows the mark of the man, and the way he spoke at training when he wasn’t involved. He wanted us to win, even though he wasn’t involved. It would have been very easy for him to be bitter and throw the toys out of the pram. It just shows the mark of the man, the way he acted.”

Gatland had received a huge amount of flak for his decision to drop O’Driscoll and said he had been taken aback by the level of anger levelled at him but he was confident he made the right decision for the good of the Lions’ Test series prospects, a policy of sticking to his instincts developed during his tenure as Ireland coach when a change of heart in selection cost him the chance of a Grand Slam in 2001.

“If we’d have won the series fantastic, if we’d lost there would only be fingers pointed at myself,” Gatland said. “We lost an away game to Scotland which cost Ireland a Grand Slam. Tactically I changed the way we played influenced by some selections. I promised myself I would never do that again, that I would never back down from what I felt would be the right decision. On 50-50 calls sometimes you can be swayed by other coaches but when you really believe deep down it’s the right decision you’ve got to back yourself 100%. I’d rather make what I thought was the right decision rather than have any regrets afterwards. I’m proud I’ve continued to do that following that experience with Ireland.”

Gatland admitted the way game panned out, with the Lions forwards dominating the set-piece, his side would have won regardless of who played at outside centre but he stood by his selection of Davies.

“We felt it was the right rugby decision, not a sentimental decision. I spoke to Brian after the game because I know how disappointed he was, but he was part of a winning series. He played in the first two Tests and was very much a part of it.”

Lions team manager Andy Irvine paid tribute to both Gatland and O’Driscoll for the way they conducted themselves during a tense week in camp.

“Warren’s had one hell of a tough week and deserves a huge amount of credit because he obviously made a very difficult selection decision and I was as disappointed as anyone when Brian O’Driscoll wasn’t named in the Test side. Without a doubt Brian has been the outstanding player in the northern hemisphere for the last 20-30 years. He ranks right up there with Mike Gibson, Gareth Edwards, Will John and Martin Johnson. Personally I believe he outstrips them all. Warren made that decision quite simply because he thought it was best for the team as a whole.”