DETAILS GOT BYRNE BACK WITH A BANG
JAMISON GIBSON-PARK is clear on why Ross Byrne is back with a bang at Test level – while revealing Johnny Sexton is withstanding bangs thanks to his batman mask.
Discarded by Ireland after the 2021 Six Nations, Byrne answered Andy Farrell’s call with ice in his veins in the final Autumn series game last November with the winning penalty against Australia.
Now he is in Farrell’s Six Nations squad at Joey Carbery’s expense and Gibson-park, who for a long time was part of Leinster’s back-up half-back partnership with Byrne, believes Byrne’s return is wholly deserved.
“For Rossy, something he probably always had was his game management and his game leadership,” said the scrum-half, who himself has become Farrell and Leinster’s go-to starter in the No.9 jersey.
“But I think it has come on leaps and bounds again from what he was.
“He’s a pretty good natural leader, but that has certainly been an area of his game that he has worked on.
“And then there’s his basics, we know he has an excellent kicking game and all that sort of stuff, so yeah, it’s been good to see and he’s been good to work with.”
Still, Gibson-park is expected to line up alongside Johnny Sexton as Ireland’s half-backs in Cardiff on Saturday, their dynamic partnership adding an exhilarating edge to the attack.
Sexton is recovering from cheekbone surgery but has been in the thick of it during the warm weather camp in Quinta do Lago.
“He’s still training well and moving well, he always does,” said Gibson-park, before smiling: “I think he copped a whack in the face during training but he had the batman mask on so he’s all good.
“He’s going well.”