'I’m hopeful but I’m not sure' - Leo Cullen waiting to see if Sexton will be back for Leinster

The injured Ireland out half is due to retire this year.

Leinster Head Coach Leo Cullen at training on Thursday. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher

Leo Cullen is hopeful that Johnny Sexton will be able to play for Leinster again this season, but the head coach admits that he is unsure if that will happen as the veteran playmaker awaits confirmation of his injury situation.

The Ireland captain suffered a groin injury in the closing stages of Ireland’s Six Nations finale against England in Dublin last Saturday and admitted that it “doesn’t feel good” in the post-match press conference.

Sexton himself, speaking to ‘The Good, the Bad and the Rugby’ podcast, expressed the hope that the injury wouldn’t prove to be too serious and that he could return to play in a couple of weeks after seeing some specialists about the issue.

Leinster would have a maximum of 10 games to play between now and the season’s finish at the back end of May if they were to make it to URC and Champions Cup deciders but it does appear that the 37-year old will be more likely to make the closing stages.

If that doesn’t happen then the current injury would effectively bring an end to his time as a Leinster player having made his club debut off the bench against the Border Reivers in front of just over 4,000 people at the old Donnybrook ground in January of 2006.

Sexton is due to retire after this season’s World Cup.

“I don't know is the answer,” said Cullen when asked if his captain would be able to return to play this term. “I’m not expecting anything. I’m hopeful but I’m not sure. He’s going to see a specialist, we’ll see how we go.” 

Cullen did at least wave away any concerns as to the players likely availability for Ireland’s French odyssey later in 2023. “I don't think there's any injury you could have at this point in time that could rule you out of the World Cup,” he said.

Those of the glass half-full variety could look at this spell on the sidelines as a good thing for Ireland in that it could deliver a fitter and more rested Sexton into the national camp before the World Cup. The player himself and Cullen won’t, can’t, see it that way.

The out-half has been determined to add a fifth Champions Cup title to his and his club’s locker since their last success in 2018 and his head coach made the additional point yesterday that it is hard to better game time when it comes to preparation.

Should Sexton sit out the remainder of this season then he would have no game time between that Grand Slam clincher against England last week and Ireland’s first World Cup warm-up, against Italy, in early August.

That’s a 20-week gap.

“Players, they want to be involved,” said Cullen. “There are trophies on the line, players want to be involved in that.” 

The immediate consequence of all this is a reliance on other, younger tens. This is not unfamiliar territory for Leinster who will be without their Grand Slam contingent this evening when they host a near full-strength Stormers side at the RDS.

With Ross Byrne among those given this weekend off it will fall to his younger brother Harry again to wear the No.10, as he has done on three occasions since the bulk of the squad’s frontliners departed for Six Nations duties.

Ciaran Frawley, who started the last game against Edinburgh at full-back, is chosen at inside-centre and another fly-half option is Charlie Tector who will hope to make his seventh appearance of the season tonight from off the bench.

The Stormers have four fit and available Springboks after a recent mandatory rest period for the Test players so loosehead and captain Steven Kitshoff, tighthead Frans Malherbe, second row Marvin Orie and centre Damian Willemse all start for the reigning URC champions.

Their head coach John Dobson has labelled Leinster the Crusaders of the north and stated his wish to emulate their success in this hemisphere and they pitch up in Dublin second in the table but 12 points behind the Irish province.

Cullen is without 18 players who featured in the Six Nations. Frawley, Jordan Larmour, Scott Penny and Ross Molony, who all spent time in camp without playing, are on duty here.