Johnny Sexton: ‘It was a lesson for me in terms of not planning too far ahead’

LEARNING CURVE: Ireland and Leinster Rugby star and MACE Brand Ambassador Johnny Sexton with the Ardee RFC U14 team, who were selected from the thousands of entries received from all over Ireland in an exclusive MACE competition for the opportunity to win the ‘money-can’t-buy’ training session with the Ireland captain. Picture: Morgan Treacy

Johnny Sexton may have been around the block a few times and he may well turn a couple more corners before he calls time on his illustrious career but the lessons of last season have proven you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The Ireland captain celebrated his 36th birthday in July as the British & Irish Lions toured South Africa without him, much to Sexton’s frustration given he had put so much into spending his summer in red as a three-time tourist. And therein lied the lesson the fly-half will carry into his 17th season as a Leinster player, which gets underway on September 10 with a pre-season friendly against Harlequins at Aviva Stadium.