‘The day I’m not driven is the day I’ll walk away’ - Johnny Sexton's desire still burning bright

Johnny Sexton says watching Ireland play Japan as a fan last summer spurred him on

Jonathan Sexton of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match against Scarlets at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile Expand
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Jonathan Sexton of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match against Scarlets at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Jonathan Sexton of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match against Scarlets at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

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Jonathan Sexton of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match against Scarlets at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Ruaidhri O'Connor Twitter

Last summer, Johnny Sexton got a glimpse of the afterlife. Handed the summer off, he picked up two tickets for Ireland’s Test match against Japan and took his son Luca along to the Aviva Stadium.

This was not the Lansdowne Road he’s come to know as he negotiated his way past the concession stands and programme sellers to find his seats, before peering down at the green turf on which he has strut his stuff 48 times for his country.

The time off was designed to give the out-half a break and the experience of watching from a distance only reinforced Sexton’s connection with the team as they battled back to beat the Brave Blossoms.

As he exited on to the Shelbourne Road, there was no doubt in his mind that he’d be back to win his 100th cap this season. The fire still burns.

“It was very strange,” he says. “Having that feeling, I wasn’t content sitting there. I had a wish that I was still playing. I understood the reasons why not and I sat there with Luca and I was getting into the game a little bit.

“I still felt like I wanted to be out there, not that it was my team, but it was the team that I was part of and I wanted to be there helping them.

“Then the other side of it is that by the end of the game you’re looking at things and you’re thinking how much respect you have for the guys.

“I remember James Ryan in that game. I had been speaking to him during the week and he had a bit of a groin niggle, and he just kept getting up off the ground, making tackle after tackle, getting off the line and you kind of get a different perspective.

“You kind of go, ‘Wow!’ When you’re playing you want people to see that in you. So, lots of different things hit home on the day. It was a very impressive performance by the lads. They did a lot of good things really well and we hope to build on that this week and go a step further.”

Yesterday, Sexton was back in his green polo-shirt to take his pre-match press conference. At the beginning, he stated that he didn’t want it all to be about him, that he was content to let others do the talking about him.

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The media are nothing if not determined and eventually Sexton relented.

He’s joining an exclusive club this Saturday, with only Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell, John Hayes, Ronan O’Gara, Rory Best and Cian Healy achieving the milestone ahead of him. As he noted, the fact he only got his first cap at 24 makes this all the more impressive.

It’s a testimony to his determination and durability that he’s made it this far.

The young lads in the squad don’t often ask him for advice, so we did so on their behalf.

“I learnt from the guys before me, the Paul O’Connells, the Brian O’Driscolls, the Isa Nacewas – it was every day,” he says. “Even on the days they weren’t training they were in doing video, they were doing the extras, making sure they were recovering well and doing enough of what they had to do in the gym.

“So, it’s day to day. It’s that stuff that stacks up, I think people focus too much on the Saturday when you have got to do it day in, day out and want to do all the extra stuff and the hard stuff when no one’s looking. When you’re practising your kicking, you’ve got to go and practise into the wind and not just with the wind. Those type of things.

“They don’t ask too often, in fact some of the Leinster lads never ask, but I hope they see it day to day. I think that’s what Joe Schmidt has always driven with the leadership group, that you have to show and you can’t tell them.

“Hopefully that’s still the case. I had to work a long time to get that one cap (in 2009) and I was unbelievably happy to get the first one and they’re the most special ones, do you know what I mean?

“I never in a million years thought I’d still be playing but I think over the last few years I’ve just taken it year on year and see how I felt.

“The ability to bounce back is something that I’d like to say I’d be proud of because in my career I’ve felt like I’ve had a lot of brilliant moments, a lot of winning trophies, all those things, all those special memories, but I’ve also had a hell of a lot of low points as well, which have always driven me.

“So I suppose if you want to be a good role model for kids looking in, it’s don’t give up and always try to bounce back and that’s what I’d like to think people would see when they see me.”

Advice was high on the menu and Sexton was asked what he’d tell that 24-year-old firebrand who forced his way into the Leinster and Ireland teams in 2009.

“Don’t take it so seriously,” he adds with a wry smile. “But then you wouldn’t be true to yourself. If you are that age; have the vision to view it as a journey, that there will be ups and downs.

“When you are in that moment it feels like the end, it feels like you can’t come back from this or from that bad moment but it is part of your journey. It leads you onto something bigger and better when you do bounce back from it.

“That’s what I would tell my younger self but then my younger self would probably tell me to p*** off!”

There may be one or two more grey hairs beneath the tight haircut, the body may creak a bit more in the morning but Sexton is determined to keep going.

“The day that that isn’t the case I’ll walk away, 100pc,” he says of his motivation. “It’s there at the moment. I hope it’s been evident in my performances for Leinster over the five games that I’m still hungry.

“I’m still nervous about this week. I still want to put in a big performance and win the games.”

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