Mike Catt: 'Working with Johnny Sexton, you can let him run the show'

The only morsel he was willing to offer was a comparison between Johnny Sexton and the Jonny Wilkinson who was England’s out-half that year of years two decades ago.

RUNNING THE SHOW: Ireland assistant coach Mike Catt and Jonathan Sexton. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Try as they might, the England press corps couldn’t get Mike Catt to spin back in time and knit a line for them on England’s memorable visit to Dublin 20 years ago when they eviscerated their hosts in a Grand Slam decider.

The fact that Catt didn’t play a part in that Six Nations campaign – he was recalled for the World Cup later that year – may have had something to do with it, but there was a very clear, unspoken sense that all that was then and this is now.