The lure of the RDS crowd was a key factor in Johnny Sexton agreeing to return to Leinster next season, according to the Racing Metro and Ireland outhalf.
Sexton and the IRFU yesterday confirmed the 29-year-old had agreed a four-year deal from the start of next season.
Speaking about it for the first time this evening, Sexton was at pains to stress his gratitude to his Parisian employers ahead of his second and final season with the club, but admitted the relationship Irish players have with their provinces is “very special”.
“By no means are we crying ourselves to sleep over here (Paris),” Sexton told Newstalk’s Off the Ball. “ We are very happy here, we are very lucky, the club have looked after me extremely well. Obviously, there were tough times last year, with the transition the club was going through, and there are highs and lows with everything, but we are very lucky to have had the experience we have had and we still are and we are going to try and enjoy the next nine months in Paris.”
Sexton added there was never any chance of him going to Toulon, it was always Paris or Dublin, but returning to the latter, where he made 110 Leinster appearances between 2006 and 2013, is the “right decision . . . for a number of reasons”.
Chief among them was his family, after he and his wife Laura celebrated the birth of their son Luca in June, and his desire to run out at the RDS as a home player again.
“I’d like my son to see me play for Leinster, I’d like him to come to the RDS every week. They are small things that came to my mind.
"There was a couple of moments last year where I was watching the lads play for Leinster where I missed it - there were other times where I didn't - but I remember Richardt Strauss coming back after his heart operation and the reception he got at the RDS and thought: 'It would be pretty cool to experience something like that, it might not happen, but . . .'
“The prospect of it makes me excited.”
Sexton added: “It’s very special what the provinces have, we are very lucky to be a part of it. I don’t think I ever took it for granted when I was there but when you do go away you do miss certain aspects of it and you realise how lucky you were to be part of an organisation like that and how lucky you are to be going back to it.”
Sexton, who insisted he will give everything to win a Top 14 title and European title with Racing before he leaves, suffered a broken jaw against Toulon last weekend.
The former St Mary’s College student said the injury isn’t as bad as it could have been and expects to be back in action for Racing in four to six weeks time.
“I’ve got a fracture in the lower part of jaw, it’s not displaced, I haven’t had to have it wired up like last time . . . no eating for three (weeks), I think that will be the toughest part.”
