sport news Johnny Sexton leads Leinster against La Rochelle and his old team-mate and ... trends now
Past and present Ireland No 10s collide in Saturday’s Heineken European Champions Cup Final and Ronan O’Gara believes Johnny Sexton has used the pain of missing out on selection for the last Lions tour to reignite his career.
The former Test team-mates and selection rivals hold the key to the showdown between Leinster and La Rochelle in sweltering heat by the Mediterranean, at Stade Velodrome. While the Dublin province are clear favourites, former Munster icon O’Gara is in charge of a La Rochelle side who can pose a threat based on fearsome physicality and a swashbuckling sense of attacking adventure.
But he knows that Sexton, Leinster’s veteran captain and fly-half maestro, is operating at the peak of his powers again, having appeared to be a fading force last year. ‘Twelve months ago, Johnny wasn’t playing as well as he is now,’ said O’Gara.
Johnny Sexton (left) and Ronan O'Gara (right) will clash in the European Champions Cup final
He has a theory about the cause of the 36-year-old’s personal transformation, adding: ‘I understand the mind-set of Johnny; that he’s a competitor. That’s the under-statement of the season! He loves rugby. It is such a great game, so you play it for as long as you can. If you’re good, you keep going and he’s out-staying the rest in his position, comfortably.
‘But I think he’s also been fuelled. There wasn’t much of a deal made of the fact that he didn’t make the Lions tour, but that would have hurt him deeply. So now, it’s another example of his excellent resilience and he’s coming back.
‘He’s made changes to his game. He’s always been a good passer of the ball, but now he’s become a (running) threat again. You saw in the semi-final against Toulouse, he has a very good running game, a good passing game, a good kicking game and he’s very good at seeing the opportunity before other people see it. That’s what a lot of great 10s do - and he sees things quicker than other people.’
Former England head coach Stuart Lancaster is at the heart of Leinster’s imperious surge towards a fifth European conquest. He has also had a major influence on Sexton since arriving at the province in 2016 and he paid tribute to the playmaker’s enduring class.
As former team-mates, O'Gara knows Sexton very well and praised his talent and resilience
‘Jonny has a lot of qualities I really admire,’ said Lancaster. ‘One is his competitiveness and his desire to want to win
