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Rugby

11th Feb 2019

‘The best part of Johnny Sexton’s game is his ability to commit players’

Jack O'Toole

Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton left Saturday’s 22-13 win over Scotland with a head injury but he still managed to set up Jacob Stockdale’s try with a perfectly timed inside ball before his departure.

Sexton was smashed by Scotland prop Allan Dell in what was ultimately his last meaningful contribution to the game before being replaced by Munster fly-half Joey Carbery.

Sexton is a perennial target for Irish opposition but former international Barry Murphy actually feels like it’s one of the strongest parts of his game when reviewing the match with former Ulster winger Andrew Trimble and comedian David O’Doherty.

DAVID: “So, Johnny Sexton got whacked again. But he sort of has to do that, doesn’t he, for those moves to work then?”
BARRY: “I think that’s the best part of his game. He commits players. If he didn’t commit whoever it was… Allan Dell.”
ANDREW: “I felt that was like Mortal Kombat and Johnny’s health was right down to that. And then someone just shouted, ‘Finish Him!’ and Allan Dell just upper-cutted him and Johnny missed the bridge on the way back down and hit the spikes at the bottom.”
DAVID: “Em, I, another thing I… “
BARRY: “Sorry, I keep laughing at the misfortune of these players.”
ANDREW: “Sorry Johnny Sexton.”
DAVID: “Eh, the acting… I will say this, coming from an actual Arts point of view, Stockdale did actual acting in that.”
ANDREW: “What was this?”
DAVID: “So, in that play…”
ANDREW: “Oh, hiding?”
DAVID: “Yeah, but Stockdale is kind of like this. He’s (mimics yawn) and then he went that way.”
BARRY: “I remember. He was hiding behind the ref.”
DAVID: “It was really good, yeah.”

 

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