Lions role sees Johnny Sexton jump into coaching's deep end

The playing squad that Farrell names in London’s O2 on May 8th will be buttressed by a strong Irish spine as well, but Sexton's inexperience will be countered by his two previous tours as a player and the fact that he was all but a player/coach for much of his career anyway.

DEEP END: News that Johnny Sexton has committed to a summer with the British and Irish Lions, and to the IRFU on a longer-term basis, wasn’t expected on Thursday morning. This isn’t the same as saying it came as a shock. Well, not the IRFU part anyway. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

News that Johnny Sexton has committed to a summer with the British and Irish Lions, and to the IRFU on a longer-term basis, wasn’t expected on Thursday morning. This isn’t the same as saying it came as a shock. Well, not the IRFU part anyway.

The one-time Leinster, Ireland and Lions talisman had tried to distance himself from talk of a coaching pathway long before his illustrious playing career came to an end on a bitterly disappointing night in Paris in October of 2023.