Sexton: Hopefully I Can Add Value, Impart Some Of My Knowledge

Appointed in April as an assistant coach for the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, Sexton brings a vast amount of playing experience to the role, including two tours in the famous red jersey. His coaching career has accelerated since last November.

He worked with the Ireland Men’s squad in a part-time coaching capacity during this season’s Autumn Nations Series and Guinness Men’s Six Nations, and will take up an expanded coaching position with the IRFU from August 1.

Moving back into the rugby world full-time after being Chief of Staff at Ardagh Group, the 39-year-old will spend the summer as kicking coach with the Lions as they bid for a first series win since the 2013 tour Down Under.

As was the case back then, the Lions will travel to Australia with a talented and ambitious group of out-halves, and Sexton liked what he saw from England duo Marcus and Fin Smith during last week’s training camp in Portugal.

“It’s a little bit of everything really,” he said of his coaching brief with the Lions, speaking ahead of their 1888 Cup match against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday (kick-off 8pm – tickets are available to buy here).

“It depends on what person you are working with and what form they’re in. It depends on whether they need a little bit of help or it they’re in a good place.

“The first week has just been getting to know Marcus and Fin Smith. I’ve played against Marcus a couple of times, I don’t think I’ve played against Fin Smith.

“Remarkably talented, great characters, great people. I’ve got to know that over the first week, and I’m looking forward to working with them.

“How we progress this week, it’s trying to get to know how they kick the ball, what are their cues…if they miss, what do they want to hear? Do they want technical information? All those things. I’m getting to know them and (to) try work it out that way.”

The two Smiths are prodigious talents, with Marcus having made his Lions debut in South Africa in 2021 at the age of 22. Fin, an Investec Champions Cup runner-up with Northampton Saints this season, only turned 23 last month.

The last out-half to link up with Andy Farrell’s Lions in Dublin yesterday was Scotland star Finn Russell, fresh from playing a key role in Bath’s first Gallagher Premiership title win in 29 years.

Sexton and Russell played against each other on numerous occasions at club and international level, and in the battle to be picked for the 2021 Lions, the Dubliner missed out on selection to the Scot, which he said ‘kills me to this day’ in his autobiography, ‘Obsessed‘.

There was further speculation about the pair’s relationship following comments made by Sexton in a subsequent interview with ‘The Times‘, but Russell has since said that they ‘talked and had a laugh about the whole thing’ at the Lions’ first get-together in Richmond recently.

Keen to develop a strong coach-player dynamic with the Stirling native, Sexton said: “Well look, there’s a lot been made of the whole situation, primarily by the media. I don’t think it’s what I wrote in the book, it’s more comments I made doing media for the book.

“It’s probably been blown out of proportion, really. I was talking about myself in 2021 and how I felt back then and it was more really about what I thought Warren Gatland (the then Lions head coach) was thinking as opposed to what I was thinking.

“But look, you kind of have to deal with these types of challenges. It won’t be the last time. We had a handshake and a brief chat (at the first Lions meet-up).

“Finn was racing off because those guys who were playing in finals didn’t stay too long. They came in, got their kit, did a little media and were gone. I’m looking forward to catching up with him later.

“What the Lions demand of you is that if there is a rivalry, which there’s not but if there was, you leave it at the door. Finn will be in later, he was outstanding in the Premiership final.

“He’s been good over the last few weeks so he’ll come in with a pep in his step, and I’m sure he’ll come to the group and get nothing but compliments at the moment.

“I am here to help him now. I’m here to give him experiences. I’m here to answer his questions. I’m not here to force myself on him or tell him what to do. It’s not that relationship. I’m here to help.”

Sexton was speaking at UCD’s University Club, following the Lions’ first pitch session of the week at the nearby Bowl. Their training numbers have been boosted significantly with the addition of 15 players from the Leinster, Bath, and Leicester Tigers teams that were in final action at the weekend.

The matchday squad for their historic clash with Argentina will be revealed by Farrell tomorrow, and there was the welcome sight yesterday of Tadhg Furlong training with the group having not played for Leinster since early May.

The 22 players that trained together in Portugal will form the vast majority or bulk of the side to face the Pumas, with the first-time tourists amongst them, including Mack Hansen, who is returning from an ankle injury, and Finlay Bealham, no doubt itching to be involved.

With a record Irish representation across the Lions coaching staff and playing squad, Sexton’s close relationship and familiarity with Farrell and the set-up has allowed him to hit the ground running in terms of what he wants to achieve from day to day.

Of course, there are some unique aspects and challenges when stepping onto the field to coach some of your friends and former team-mates, or players who you have played against, and others who you have not met before.

“Yeah, you can see the pros and cons. Obviously I know these guys (the Ireland players) really well but with that, comes a challenge in how you deal with them, particularly when they’re friends,” admitted Ireland’s record points scorer.

“It’s the same thing when you’re meeting people for the first time, there’s pros and cons with that. You have to try to get to know them as people, get to know their strengths and weaknesses.

“Sometimes you can have a perception of a player from what you see through a TV screen, and no matter how much footage you can watch and then you can see something different live. You can see a different person to what you expected.

“I’m enjoying being back, that’s the main thing. Hopefully I can add value because that’s ultimately what you want when you come into a job.

“You want to feel like you’re making a difference and I want the players to say, ‘He’s been good for me’. I want to impart some of the knowledge that I’ve picked up over 17 years as a pro, to give it back.”