At some stage on Saturday Johnny Sexton will gaze up at the posts at the Aviva Stadium and all will fall quiet. He will take his time but the outcome will be almost preordained. One more successful kick and Ireland’s fly-half will become the leading all-time Six Nations points-scorer. A little shuffle, a thump of his white-booted right foot and another slice of history will be secured.
The key to understanding what makes Sexton tick, though, is what happens next. There will be no grandstanding or outward gush of emotion at passing Ronan O’Gara’s old record of 557 points. Because what really drives him, even at the age of 37, is something subtly different “His drive is not for perfection, it’s for success,” says Gordon D’Arcy, his former Leinster and Ireland teammate. “It’s not always about excellence because everybody’s bar is different.”
And Sexton, it seems, is still as addicted to winning as ever. On the eve of almost certainly his final Six Nations appearance, his old mate D’Arcy also believes Ireland’s captain ranks among the very best rugby brains the sport has ever known. “A couple of players have had it down the years,” says D’Arcy. “There’s a switch they flick when they cross the white line. He definitely has it. It didn’t use to matter if you were going for dinner with him that night, with your wives and partners, or if you were someone he couldn’t stand. Everybody was equal within the white lines.
“He does things at the right time and his rugby IQ is off the charts. That is something that sets him apart from most people I know in rugby. They’ll be looking for others to tell them what they should do next. Sexton has already thought about it and told you where to be. To have that is just phenomenal and to be still doing it at this age just shows the importance of rugby IQ in the modern game.”
No matter, in other words, that there are younger fly-halves and bigger specimens out there. None can compare with a man who has even taught himself to play in a different way. “People talk about what makes great players,” continues D’Arcy. “Look at Dan Carter in the second Test smashing of the British & Irish Lions in 2005. He did a couple of amazing things but 80% of what he did was the simplest things done under the most intense pressure. That’s what Johnny Sexton does.
“Johnny’s game doesn’t rely on his physical capabilities. At the 2015 World Cup he was standing flat to the line and taking massive punishment. Now it’s more about being in the right place at the right time and pulling passes. Once he’d removed that physical limitation it came down to how long he wanted it for. He’s more tempered than in, say, 2009 but he’s just as passionate. At fly-half it doesn’t really matter if you can still sprint through a gap as long as you can last 80 minutes. For a centre, time waits for no man. Once I lost that acceleration it was good night, good luck.”
With 112 caps for Ireland and another six for the Lions, Sexton does not need telling what kind of atmosphere will surround Saturday’s St Patrick’s weekend fixture. Nor will any Irish player be tempted to look too far ahead and wonder if Ireland can also thrive at next year’s World Cup. “If we’re fortunate enough to win a home grand slam in Dublin for the first time ever, we’ll have really earned it,” says D’Arcy, speaking on behalf of ICE36. “I think we should enjoy that success and the World Cup will then take care of itself.”
Retired players such as D’Arcy, though, also cannot help but look across at England’s current state and shake their heads. “What’s really frustrating with England is they’re very well-stocked personnel-wise. You really have to wonder about the decision to get rid of Eddie Jones pre-Christmas, so close to the World Cup.
“The players might not have liked it but, from the outside looking in, Eddie stressed them and put them into uncomfortable positions. There was always a method to the madness. I’m not sure whether things have become a little bit more comfortable within that English squad but it’s hard to see any progress for them in this Six Nations. They still have high-quality players but they don’t seem particularly well organised.”
Sexton, by contrast, could not be readier for Saturday. “He’s been making clear he’s not focused on what this weekend is for him,” says D’Arcy. “Because it’s not the end for him. It’s another milestone that, when the work is done, he’ll look back and reminisce fondly about. But I and all his peers believe him when he says he genuinely doesn’t care about that now. All that matters is getting that win.”
