Irish No 10 must consider how to bring his playing days to a dignified end

ON A cold, wet night in November 2009, Johnny Sexton made his Ireland debut at the RDS. Given the freedom to paint the picture himself, he wouldn’t have strayed far from the reality: Ireland were fully loaded against Fiji, who in the circumstances offered little threat. Sexton kicked 16 points in a man-of-the-match performance.

Six months earlier, he had been a central part of Leinster’s first Heineken Cup triumph. It was all happening.

If he features for Ireland against France on Sunday it will give him his 103rd Test match, his 97th for Ireland.

In the circumstances it would be hard not to linger a while on the prospect of hitting the century in green.

When you’ve been at the heart of things as long as Sexton you would consider it an appropriate junction. It should also come with a black-spot warning.

In the run-up to this tournament we were all set to visit the issue of Sexton and his Ireland future when news of Paul O’Connell’s arrival on the scene got in the way.

The Sexton piece was deferred, but its premise hasn’t strayed far from the firmly-held belief that Test rugby is such a physical and mental challenge you pick the best team available. It’s not a paddling pool for lads with armbands.

Naturally enough if your calendar year features 10/11 Tests then you’re not going to flog the same players in every game, but neither do you feature fellas whom you hope – at some point in the future – might look the part. Otherwise known as, the World Cup cycle.

Post-RWC 1999, and the shock to the system in Lens, Irish rugby have been fundamentalists on this front. It hasn’t worked.

Still, folks bang on about France 2023 as if it should be our guiding light. So they look at Sexton’s age profile and conclude it doesn’t make sense to keep picking him when he’ll have a bus pass by then. It makes sense to keep picking him if he’s the best man for the next job. The moment he stops getting that nod is the moment you leave him out. That moment is now.

Part of that selection process compares and contrasts him with the next rung on the ladder. Currently there are three players in the discussion: Ross Byrne and Billy Burns, both of whom are in the current squad; and Jack Carty who is not. Carty is the best of the three.

This doesn’t make Carty a worldbeater but he has a better all-round game than Byrne and Burns.

Critically, he does not have the question marks over him that haunt Sexton: can he get through a game? Can he play a full part when trying to get through the game?

This looks worse for Ireland because they are less sure of what they should be doing than Leinster, who are crystal clear on the script.

Sexton is not a small man. A feature of his game has always been an ability to trade well in the physical stakes. Driven by an insanely competitive spirit, it helped that he had the frame to carry it.

Now, for Ireland, he plays well behind the gain line, representing no sort of

threat to defenders. Then there is the threat to himself.

If it was instructive that he should do the post-match media gig in Cardiff last weekend, rather than crack on with his HIA, then it was short odds he’d be back out front again yesterday after the current blizzard of coverage about his concussion history.

Two neurologists in France – one of whom, Dr Jean-Francois Chermann, sat Sexton down for 12 weeks to rest his head when he was on Racing’s books – were quoted extensively about their concerns for him taking the pitch this Sunday after the knee in the head he sustained in Cardiff.

It’s inescapable that France will gain an advantage from heaping extra pressure on Sexton if he plays. Equally it’s inescapable that another head knock for Sexton makes it topical, so it was justifiably opportunistic to visit this again.

In the course of those quotes, however, a wild figure of suspected concussions was thrown out by Dr Chermann. This was subsequently clarified by him after Sexton rubbished it, saying the doctor’s comments were “inaccurate, inappropriate and I’m pretty disappointed”.

Sexton’s interest in, and knowledge of, concussion must be substantial at this stage. In the course of that journey he must also have learned that players are rarely the best judges in this game. He may not accept this.

So if Sexton keeps passing return-toplay protocols and keeps making himself available then without fundamental change in laws and regulations things will continue as they are.

There is, however, the small matter of his contract, which is up at the end of the season. It seems unlikely the IRFU will continue with him on a central contract. Which would leave Leinster, where currently he is at the top of a roster of five out-halves, including the Byrne brothers Ross and Harry, along with Ciarán Frawley and David Hawkshaw.

For Leinster to hang onto him you’d imagine Leo Cullen must have presented some pretty picture. Where Sexton features in it will unfold soon enough, but the baggage is weighing him down.

You’d wonder if his competitive nature allows him to think of the afterlife, which is sure to involve rugby, whether as a coach, or pundit – he would be outstanding – or both.

More than 11 years after he kicked off a stellar Test career he should consider how to bring the playing days to a dignified end.