Ireland captain ready for Lions call: ‘Johnny Sexton is training the house down’

Johnny Sexton a Test starter for Gatland in the series win over Australia in 2013 and the drawn trilogy with the All Blacks in 2017, faces a fight to make it on a third tour

Johnny Sexton’s case for inclusion on the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa has received significant backing from Stuart Lancaster ahead of tomorrow’s squad announcement by Warren Gatland.

The fly-half, a Test starter for Gatland in the series win over Australia in 2013 and the drawn trilogy with the All Blacks in 2017, faces a fight to make it on a third tour with the head coach thought to be taking three number 10s from a pool of candidates also including Dan Biggar, Owen Farrell, and Finn Russell.

Sexton’s claim has not been helped by the concussion he picked up in Leinster’s European quarter-final win at Exeter Chiefs last month and the 35-year-old has not played since, missing last Sunday’s semi-final defeat at La Rochelle. Yet his provincial senior coach Lancaster would have no doubts about including the former World Player of the Year in the touring party to face the world champion Springboks this July and August.

Speaking yesterday as Leinster confirmed Sexton, who will be 36 on July 11, would not be available for this Saturday’s Rainbow Cup trip to Connacht, Lancaster said: “Johnny is absolutely training the house down, he’s trained today, his eye is in, I can tell with Johnny when his eye is in, he just sees the game so quickly.

“From my point of view he’s a world-class player and he’d be a huge addition I think personally. But I know there is huge competition in there as well with Finn Russell and Owen Farrell, George Ford I thought was excellent at the weekend for Leicester against Ulster, Dan Biggar, obviously very good, so it’s competitive but I’d back Johnny for sure.”

Nor does Lancaster fear for Sexton’s durability on a tour against the ultra-physical South Africans.

“Nobody can control what happens in any game of rugby, there’s going to be injuries and all sorts of things that happen. All I can report, and it’s up to them to decide, but all I can report is him training at the moment and he’s flying, doing extras. He’s in as good a shape as I’ve seen.”

The former England boss is hopeful Sexton will be one of a number of Leinstermen named by Gatland and yesterday namechecked James Ryan, Jack Conan, Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw, and Garry Ringrose but he agreed that the 32-23 loss at La Rochelle could harm the chances of any players at the centre of any 50-50 selection calls.

“I think everything in the lead up to the final selection can all play a part in the final selection, definitely I’ve been through this picking a World Cup squad in 2015, the warm-up games before, everything, the training sessions you see, as an impact on you. But you’d much rather be in those games and playing at this level than sat at home waiting for the phone to ring.

I think Leinster have proven that we have big players and they’ve proven it with Ireland.

“The squad is getting announced on Thursday, there’s 36 players, you can’t tell me that the 36 that’s named on Thursday is going to be (a), the same 36 that goes on the plane to South Africa and (b) remain the only 36 that will play for the British and Irish Lions this season.

“The schedule leading into the actual departure with the English Premiership semi-final and final which will undoubtedly involve some players, these Rainbow Cup games we’re playing in, the Japan game, games against the Stormers, the Bulls, the Sharks... Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday — I don’t know what the actual schedule is, but you look at it and think of how hard it was when we played the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and how hard a game that was.

“The Lions have got that Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday plus South Africa A and three Tests.

“If I’m not picked, I definitely want to go on my country’s tour and I want to be ready to go.

That’s my message to the lads who don’t get picked from any country, a lot of things can happen. There’ll be more than 36 players that represent the Lions.

Whatever about who travels with the Lions, Lancaster said the inclusion of South Africa’s four “Super” franchises in an expanded PRO16 next season would help Irish provinces prepare for the physicality of European games against teams assembled from around the globe.

“I couldn’t agree more that that’s exactly what we need.

“We all need it, really, because there’s only so many times we can go head to head with Munster and Ulster or whatever, we need to come against the Cheetahs — as was — but obviously the Stormers, the Bulls.

“We need to understand and figure out the ways to play against these powerful teams and practise it...

“We can take a lot from the bitter experience of a Saracens, as was...and I think it’s a fair comparison, the games that took place, the St James’ Park game (in 2019) and this game (against La Rochelle), I think the sin-binning (of James Lowe) was a big moment, but the Vunipolas and the (Will) Skeltons, they’re what we’ve got to deal with because there aren’t that many of those running around in Ireland, from what I’ve seen.”