Johnny Sexton has confirmed he has fully recovered from the groin strain which he sustained when the 162kg Uini Atonio fell on top of him in Ireland’s win over France.
The Irish captain was ruled out of the 34-20 defeat of Italy in Rome but he will again lead the side out when they take on Scotland in Sunday’s high-stakes Guinness Six Nations match at Murrayfield (kick-off 3pm).
“Yeah, all good. I trained last week in the Aviva against the 20s and then trained all this week so yeah, good to go,” said Sexton, who admitted this was probably the best Scottish side he has encountered since facing them on the first of 13 occasions at Croke Park in 2010.
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“I would say it’s definitely the best Scottish team I’ve ever played. I think some of the results show that, beating England regularly, beating France a few times, obviously beating Wales as well recently. So, they’ve had some big wins over the last number of years and they’ve been building nicely.
“They’ve brought in a lot of new players over the last couple of years as well which has made the team stronger. So, it’s definitely the best, yeah.”
Certainly the stakes have never been higher, in a Six Nations meeting anyway, over the last 13 years or even longer. The two sides occupy the top places in the table, with Ireland still in the hunt for a Grand Slam as well as the championship outright, and Scotland seeking to keep alive their hopes of a first title since 1999 and, on the day, completing a first Triple Crown since 1990.
“It’s something that we’re going to have to acknowledge because it’s going to make for a very special atmosphere over there I’m sure,” admitted Sexton.
“It always is a very special atmosphere even if there was nothing on the line. But it’s a huge game now with them going for a Triple Crown and still in the championship, and us in the championship and wanting to try and win a Triple Crown ourselves.”
Sexton was an integral part of the 2018 Grand Slam, as well as the titles of 2015 and 2016, but has no sense that destiny is calling this Irish team, albeit acknowledging that the expectation is circling around them.
“Every team comes into this competition wanting to win a Grand Slam, wanting to win a championship and that’s why it’s so important to get off to a good start because it keeps everything alive.
“I spoke before the Wales game, if we lost it’s Triple Crown gone; Grand Slam gone; Championship, you’re under pressure straight away. Every team goes in with those aspirations.
“We still have them in our grasp so we obviously acknowledge and talk about it and make sure that we deal with the pressure that comes with that, but it’s a privileged position to be going for it.”
As an aside, having overtaken Jonny Wilkinson in Ireland’s win over France, Sexton needs another eight points to bypass Ronan O’Gara as the championship’s all-time leading scorer on 557 points. And, needless to say, this really is an aside for the Irish captain.
“Yeah, it’s something that people say to you or you see it on social media. Irish Rugby tagged me in something today, which I wasn’t too happy about,” he said, turning to two of the IRFU’s media department with a wry grin in reference to it being highlighted on their Twitter feed.
“It’s there but I don’t think it’s going to add any pressure to me or anything like that. It’s not something I ever set out to do. I’d rather not score another point and win a championship, win a Grand Slam than get the points record. It doesn’t bother me too much. If it comes, fantastic, but it’s not something I lose sleep over.”
Leo Cullen’s recent two-year contract extension has again prompted interest in whether Sexton might come aboard the province’s coaching ticket, but that was never likely to be a runner in the immediate fallout of a World Cup, given its timing and Sexton’s understandable desire for a break from the sport which has consumed him for so long.
“I would never say never because again, you never know what life is going to throw at you. It’s not in my plans straight away. I don’t think it would be right straight away if offers did come in.
“It wouldn’t be right for me to go in and coach with guys that I’ve played with for the last number of years, and I certainly wouldn’t want to jeopardise this year because if they find out you’re going in coaching, the relationship changes straight away.
“No, I won’t be doing it for the foreseeable future anyway. But rugby is my passion. It’s all I’ve known for the last 20 years, longer even, since I was a kid. I’ll find it hard to step away from the game but I think it’s important to do it, to step away, try another walk of life and then we’ll see what happens.”
To that end, he added that he would “see if I can do something in the business world and get involved there”.
“I’ve been doing a bit of work experience over the last two years, one day a week, so I’ll go into that and see how that goes. But it might not be for me.
“I might get the itch straight away, come out of retirement and play for Mary’s,” he joked. Or, at least he may have been joking.
