Johnny must be perfect 10 on Lions tour
from PETE SAMSON in Whangarei JOHNNY SEXTON admits he faces a huge task if he is to land the British and Irish Lions No.10 shirt ahead of Owen Farrell.
Sexton, Farrell and Dan Biggar are locked in a three-way battle for the fly-half spot when the Lions open the three-Test series against New Zealand on June 24.
And the Leinster man will stake his claim in today’s tour opener against New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei.
Sexton bossed the Lions’ backline from fly-half in the 2013 series win in Australia.
But he admits Farrell presents the biggest obstacle to his ambitions of again securing a starting spot.
Prove
The Irishman, who has featured just three times for his club since January, said: “Owen is a world-class player.
“He’s had some great success over the last couple of years and obviously I know what that feels like, having had the same success with Leinster but probably four years previously.
“He’s obviously coming in as favourite to start somewhere, so it will be up to me to try and prove that I can still play that role. At the start of the season I struggled to get on the pitch (through injury), but at the end of the season the amount I played was coaches’ decisions.
“When I’ve been on the pitch, I was happy with how I played, but at the end of the season I was fit and ready to go.”
Head coach Warren Gatland may opt to use Farrell at inside centre, but Sexton added: “They haven’t given any hints that Owen will play there. It’s been three 10s, as such.
“He’s had some great success with England at 12 but also he’s had great success with Saracens at 10. So maybe they’ll try him there, maybe they won’t. Like I said, I’ll get a chance on Saturday to play 10 and I’ve got to try and make a first impression.
“All you can do is play your best and see where that gets you.”
Meanwhile, Chris Robshaw trained alone as England prepared for the two-Test tour of Argentina with a final session at Twickenham.
The former England skipper has been nursing an ankle injury.
Defence coach Paul Gustard said: “Chris had a sore ankle so missed training on the field but did some different training. The other guys we had concerns about completely trained.”