Johnny Sexton and the Ireland coaches will reflect on this November window with mixed feelings, after victories over Japan and Australia but chastening defeats to New Zealand and South Africa.
Both the All Blacks defeat in Chicago and Saturday’s bizarre loss to the Boks brought some positive aspects for Ireland, but ill discipline and mismanagement in-game ultimately cost Andy Farrell’s side.
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Defeat to South Africa will be especially tough to take, as Ireland will rue some poor decisions in attack when they gained a foothold late in the game.
It was a game marked by the Springboks’ dominance in the scrum, but Ireland also struggled at the line out and were forced into a kicking game that they could not optimise.
Speaking to Balls.ie and the Irish media at the launch of Laya Healthcare’s title sponsorship of the RDS Arena on Tuesday, Sexton admitted the recent rule changes around contests in the air had pushed the game in a completely different direction.
The ball in the air was huge. The kicking game now is as much receiving kicks as it is sending them. Obviously you think about the quality of the kick when we’re talking about the kick game, but in terms of receiving their kicking game, was something they did very well.
We were down to 12 men and they were still kicking the ball in the air, which just shows where the game is gone with not being allowed to escort back, and yeah, the rules have just flipped fully.
James Lowe had spoken in the buildup to Saturday’s game of the “new dynamic” brought to rugby the high ball rule changes, which intend to make contests in the air more open.
It is evident this ‘new dynamic’ is not one Johnny Sexton is fully sold on.
“Yes in some ways,” Sexton said when asked if he was a fan of where things were headed with regards to rugby’s kicking game.
“It’s a contest and I suppose that’s what they want, they want to see everything being a contest. It was designed to get the ball in play more and create more rugby, but it’s just led to teams kicking more and to way more scrums, which take 1-2 minutes out of the game, so I don’t really think it was that well thought through.
We know where it was driven from, we know where it came from, which is no surprise because that tends to happen now, certain people seem to have their way with the way the game is going, and I don’t think many other people get consulted.
Make of that what you will, but it’s clear that Johnny Sexton is not satisfied with the direction rugby’s kicking game is headed.
He would also fight back at suggestions that South Africa had come to “humiliate” Ireland in Saturday’s game, and also revealed how he had been swayed to return to rugby after previously ruling out a move to coaching.
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Johnny Sexton reflects on a mixed November for Ireland
Laya Healthcare announced a landmark naming rights partnership with the RDS and Leinster Rugby officially renaming the iconic RDS Arena to ‘Laya Arena’, ushering in a vibrant new era for the city’s premier multi-purpose venue. Pictured at the announcement event is Irish and Leinster Rugby legend & laya healthcare ambassador, Johnny Sexton. Photo: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Ireland assistant coach Johnny Sexton was one of the ambassadors on hand for Tuesday’s event at the RDS to announce the renaming of the arena to the ‘Laya Arena’ ahead of Leinster’s return there next season.
Sexton and the Irish coaching team have a little over two months to review this November window before a daunting Six Nations opener in Paris on Thursday, February 5th.
The nature of South Africa’s win on Saturday was chastening, with Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks walking the walk after talking a significant amount of talk in the buildup.
On Tuesday, though, Johnny Sexton would state that Ireland would not carry “scars” from a difficult night in Dublin, and he disagreed with suggestions that the Boks had come to Dublin to “humiliate” the hosts.
The only time they would be humiliated is if you pack in the towel. You throw in the towel or you pack it in. I don’t think there was any humiliation in what the lads produced on Saturday for sure. Because there was no lack of effort.
In my eyes it’s a one-off. That’s never happened to our scrum before. I know we’ve got good people involved in that department and a lot of work has gone there, being done there. So they’ll come up with solutions, they’ll come up with fixes.
This time next year, Ireland will host the Boks again as part of the new Nations Championship. It is a game Sexton hopes will be a reflection of Ireland’s growth in the intervening period.
“Saturday’s game will be a massive reference point for us in terms of us playing South Africa this time next year again,” Sexton said.
“To see the team, how much they can improve and evolve, it’ll be great for us to see. I’m sure South Africa will come back and it’ll be a great match for us to say, ‘look how far we’ve come in these 12 months’. Hopefully we will.”
Sexton will be an Ireland coach until that game and beyond, with the legendary ex-fly-half set to be part of the team until the 2027 World Cup.
For some time, though, that did not appear a likely path for Sexton to follow in retirement.
Johnny Sexton shares Jack Crowley moment that helped convince him to enter coaching
1 November 2025; Jack Crowley of Ireland, left, and assistant coach Jonathan Sexton before the Gallagher Cup match between Ireland and New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago, USA. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
In Johnny Sexton’s autobiography Obsessed, released last October, he stated that he had no interest in returning to rugby through coaching.
Just weeks later, he had returned as an advisor to Andy Farrell’s Ireland coaching team. A few months later, and he was appointed as a permanent assistant coach, not only with Ireland but with the British and Irish Lions.
“That was what I thought at the time,” Sexton said through laughter as he explained the change of heart that brought about his move into coaching.
That was generally what I thought and that’s what I planned to do. I planned to get away from the game and planned to create a new me and do all the things that I had sort of set out to do.
For lots of different reasons, I ended up being, back here. But, at the time that I wrote the book, that is what was going through my head.
They say you should never tell anyone your plans, that is probably for those reasons why!
“I suppose the part time stuff, having a bit of separation from the group for, you know, over a year and then coming back in gradually and seeing the environment, seeing what I could potentially add – it all kind of stacked up.
“You know, I don’t know if this is going to be forever, but it, you know, for the next two years it’ll be my job, and I’m looking forward to it.”
He admitted that one aspect of watching Ireland’s ruthless victory over France in the 2024 Six Nations – the very first Irish test after his retirement – had convinced him to return to the fold.
I remember the first game, the French away game in Marseille, not knowing what the plan was, not knowing what the plays were…
Me and my family were watching it together and I just kept pausing and rewinding, pausing and rewinding.
After about 20 minutes, Laura [his wife] was watching the game on her phone. I think Jack [Crowley] had a kick and Laura said, ‘You can fast forward, he gets it!’
I was always drawn to the group of people…I never stopped really watching or being invested in some way.
The final topic of conversation at the roundtable is the arrival of Sexton’s old foe Rieko Ioane in Ireland this week.
Infamously the subject of Sexton’s anger after the heartbreaking 2023 World Cup quarter-final, Ioane follows in the footsteps of his All Blacks teammate Jordie Barrett in signing for Leinster for the second half of the URC season.
Sexton was not drawn on any comment about his and Ioane’s previous clash, saying that his arrival could be massive for Leinster should he replicate the impact of some of their greatest overseas signings from down through the years.
One of the biggest influences on Leinster has been foreign players, getting the right people in, and the right players, but first and foremost good people.
When you consider the people that we’ve had over the years like Isa Nacewa – the impact that he had on, I can only speak about me, but the impact he had on me personally. Brad Thorn…the impact they’ve had on the environment and the values and all those type of things [has been] massive.
From what I hear, Jordie Barrett the exact same. Yeah, it’s a big responsibility he’s got and he’s got to follow some pretty special people and characters before him.
But look, I’ve nothing to do with Leinster anymore, really, you know, it’s nothing to do with me.
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