No loyalty or brotherhood now that Sexton is back with Leinster.
It is not over-stating matters to say Ireland’s World Cup hopes are highly dependent on the form and fitness of Johnny Sexton.
The out-half was below par in his two World Cup warm-up games but is peaking at the right time. He was in excellent form against Canada and, two missed penalties aside, had a good outing against Italy.
Next up are France and, for the Irishman, a reunion with some of his former Racing Métro [now Racing 92] teammates.
Seven Racing players are in Philippe Saint André’s World Cup squad and one of those – Eddy Ben Arous – believes he has spotted a major flaw in Sexton’s kicking game.
He says, “Regarding the kicking of Sexton, it is one of the best parts of his game.
“However, I know that he is slow in getting rid of the ball, so I am going to try to put the maximum pressure on him. I am going to hunt him down as often as possible.
“We are going to go after him 200 per cent because he is the strong man of this team.”
It was no coincidence that the French media manager put out another Racing player – fullback Brice Dulin – for the inevitable Sexton questions.
Dulin duly obliged.
“It is imperative to go after him. We have to tire him so that he finds it tough to make the calls.”
Ben Arous has also dismissed suggestions that France would somehow contemplate losing to Ireland just to avoid New Zealand, should the world champions somehow manage to lose to Tonga on Friday night.
“We just want to win this game to finish first in our pool and continue our march forward,” he declared.
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