Johnny Sexton targeted on Lions tour and Michael Cheika ‘had a good laugh about it’

Joe Schmidt and Johnny Sexton banged the 'performance' drum at Carton House this afternoon but the coach admitted a clean November sweep would do wonders for confidence.

Sexton's last encounter with a side managed by Michael Cheika - the man who gave him his Leinster debut in 2006 - was on the British & Irish Lions tour in 2013. The out-half came in for some close attention by the 'Tahs back row and centres. Sexton says, 'We'll make Bernard Foley make some tackles (on Saturday) and I'm sure Australia will do likewise. When I played the Waratahs I had a bit of a target on my head. 'Cheiks had a good laugh about it after the game.' Sexton says he still keeps in touch with the Australian coach and sent him a 'good luck' text when he took over the national posting from Ewen McKenzie. 'He sent me a text back looking for some tips on the Welsh boys,' he remarks. Sexton's appearance at the stately Maynooth hotel was his first press grouping with the Irish media since his 2015 return to Leinster was confirmed. With salary issues put to bed through previous radio interviews, the Dubliner was mainly quizzed on his relationship with Cheika and the boon a win over Australia would provide. Sexton comments, 'In terms of the set-up at Leinster, Cheiks changed the mind-set and the culture. That allowed Joe to come in and help us take off.' Regarding the goal of beating the Wallabies, Sexton says, 'I wouldn't say our confidence would be bullet-proof. We lost two matches to Southern Hemisphere teams last year... We beat South Africa a couple of weeks ago but when we came back in (to training camp) we were told the performance was not good enough.'