‘The players have loved it’ – Johnny Sexton returns to the Ireland camp offering ‘guidance’ in new gig
Johnny Sexton applauding the Ireland fans during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Defence coach Simon Easterby revealed that the Ireland camp has been upbeat thanks to Johnny Sexton’s involvement with the team’s preparation ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.
Ireland’s leading points scorer has returned to the Ireland set-up in a short-term mentoring capacity alongside his role in management for a glass and metal packaging company.
Mentor role
The coaching staff were eager to get Sexton involved during the November Tests as Ireland faced New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia to round out their year. Easterby believes the former captain has already made an impact on the group.
“He’s definitely going to be involved over the next few weeks, transitioning in and out, lending his support to certain individuals within the team,” Easterby said.
“He’s excited about potentially what he could offer, so are we as coaches, as well as players. It’s great to have him in.
“He’s a great man, he’s a great personality in the group. I guess it’s to be seen how much time he’s involved in the next four weeks but certainly in the moment we see him being involved.
“He’s already been in and potentially he’s going to come in and out of camp over the next four weeks.
“The players have loved it, there’s a real positivity around him being back involved.”
Guiding the 10s
The Ireland legend was always going to have the most influence in a specific area – with the fly-halves – and Easterby is excited for the playmakers in the squad who can soak up as much as they can from Sexton.
“Johnny, having only retired recently, still has his finger on the pulse in terms of playing in that 10 role,” said Easterby.
“Jack Crowley’s obviously had time with us, and so has Ciaran, Sam less so.
“All of those guys are like sponges, they want to learn and they want to understand and they want to get know-how and then go out there and try and put those things into practice.
“Johnny will just be able to give them a bit of guidance at times. When you’re leaning on someone like him with that much experience, it’s only a few words here and there sometimes, a little bit of a tip and a bit of feedback, that’s all it might be.
“But it’s something teams could do more: lean on guys who are not long out of the game but also have massive respect and could have massive influence on new guys coming through.”
