BE THE SEXT BIG THING..
Farrell calls for new leaders to fill void left by Johnny
ANDY FARRELL is demanding more of his players become leaders as they step out of Johnny Sexton’s shadow.
Ireland are heading into Six Nations battle without their former captain and talisman for the first time in 14 years.
Sexton incredibly missed just 10 championship games between his tournament debut in 2010 and the Grand Slam clincher against England last March.
But with the ex-leinster star now retired, head coach Farrell expects others to step up and deal with the absence of his former skipper who was a driver of standards as well as being the team’s on-field general for so long.
Currently based in the Algarve finalising their preparations, the defending Grand Slam champions are heading into ultra-hostile territory when they kick the championship off against France in Marseille on Friday night.
They will do so with 10-times capped Jack Crowley in the Sexton role.
Since coming together last Monday ahead of the tournament, Farrell has been hammering home the mantra to his players that this is their team – and that they have to take ownership of it.
“There will be a void but people must start filling it straight away and making sure that they fully understand what we’re about,” Farrell said.
“It’s their team and it’s not just the coaches trying to tell them what to do.
“Of course they’ve got experience of that and they understand what that looks like.
“But some responsibilities might be a little bit different, as in trying to take that gap and going, ‘I’m going to put myself out there, whether it be a certain position or the social committee or the leadership committee or whatever’.
“We want to see people stepping up all the time so hopefully we get back up and running in that regard pretty quickly.”
So many of the players have spoken of dealing with a bad World Cup hangover after the disappointment of exiting at the quarter-final stage when they had their sights set on lifting the trophy.
And Farrell? He said at the official launch in Dublin last week that he was “over” the loss to New Zealand.
It was his first official media appearance since that defeat and, in the meantime, the 48-year-old agreed a new IRFU contract extension that takes him up to the end of the 2027 World Cup.
Then he also landed the British and Irish Lions’ head coach role for the 2025 summer tour.
“I’m feeling great, honestly,” Farrell said. “If you can’t get excited about what’s coming up, you shouldn’t be in this job.
“Honestly, the disappointment or all the work that went in, it’s so irrelevant.
“It’s called life, isn’t it? You get on, move on, try and evolve and get excited about what’s next.”