Johnny Sexton

Podge_irl · 10-05-2009 03:01AM

[Jackass] wrote: »

Trusting he tours with us while the Lions are away and is first choice 10, if he can take his oppertunity then and play like he's playing now, you'd have to say O'Gara's place would be under serious threat.

He'll only be playing in the CC though cause of the HEC final. I can only assume he'll get capped in the Autumn and if he plays well then who knows.

Size=everything · 10-05-2009 09:21AM

Lucca Important Owl wrote: »

He needs to bulk up but I read an article where he said his biggest regret is not doing it sooner.So hes working on it.
The guy could be a big lad,hes 6'2 or so.

Why? He doesn't miss tackles and can even break tackles I don't see why Sexton needs to possibly sacrafice his turn of pace to add bulk he simply doesn't need. Also hes heavier than most outhalfs already!

irishbucsfan · 10-05-2009 11:40AM

Size=everything wrote: »

Why? He doesn't miss tackles and can even break tackles I don't see why Sexton needs to possibly sacrafice his turn of pace to add bulk he simply doesn't need. Also hes heavier than most outhalfs already!

Absolutely true.

I'd say he's just about where he needs to be. Not only does he not miss tackles right now, he makes tough hits

Micky Dolenz · 10-05-2009 12:15PM

[Jackass] wrote: »

In the space of 2 weeks he's played both Lions out halves off the park.

You'd have to say Kidney will need to take a serious look at Sexton for first choice 10 next season. At very least, he's now laid down a marker to be given the oppertunity to start.

!

Can't see him being first choice ten next season unless ROG gets injured, I would like to see him have a good summer tour and have play time with the 1st string Irish team.

Podge_irl · 10-05-2009 12:52PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Can't see him being first choice ten next season unless ROG gets injured, I would like to see him have a good summer tour and have play time with the 1st string Irish team.

One would hope if ROG plays poorly then Sexton, as someone who is developing into a feasible option, will be given a chance to play. He can play the same role ROG did when Humphries was the first-choice 10.

Micky Dolenz · 10-05-2009 01:54PM

Podge_irl wrote: »

One would hope if ROG plays poorly then Sexton, as someone who is developing into a feasible option, will be given a chance to play. He can play the same role ROG did when Humphries was the first-choice 10.

absolutely, the clock is ticking on a replacement, and why not Sexton. I would however think it would be unrealistic to think he would be 1st choice come the next 6N as suggested

anonymous_joe · 10-05-2009 02:03PM

Lucca Important Owl wrote: »

He needs to bulk up but I read an article where he said his biggest regret is not doing it sooner.So hes working on it.
The guy could be a big lad,hes 6'2 or so.

Size=everything wrote: »

Why? He doesn't miss tackles and can even break tackles I don't see why Sexton needs to possibly sacrafice his turn of pace to add bulk he simply doesn't need. Also hes heavier than most outhalfs already!

Beat me to it.

He made 12 tackles last Saturday and missed none.

He's a big powerful 10. More so than O'Gara, Humphreys or Keatley.

Podge_irl · 10-05-2009 02:12PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

absolutely, the clock is ticking on a replacement, and why not Sexton. I would however think it would be unrealistic to think he would be 1st choice come the next 6N as suggested

Ah yeah, I can't see him starting the first game or anything. But ROG appears to be fading, so I could certainly see him starting the last game. But we'll see, ROG may yet improve.

RuggieBear · 10-05-2009 02:18PM

tbh rog is far from finished and is still the better oh imo...just not on his top form. Perhaps a genuine contender for his place (if that even is Sexton) will push him and the competition can only be good for him and Ireland

Stev_o · 10-05-2009 02:23PM

Didn't everyone say the same thing this last year and he went to the CC and looked like a sub AIL OH.

Podge_irl · 10-05-2009 02:24PM

Stev_o wrote: »

Didn't everyone say the same thing this last year and he went to the CC and looked like a sub AIL OH.

That's a complete exaggeration. He has a couple bad games but he was excellent against Argentina.

anonymous_joe · 10-05-2009 02:24PM

RuggieBear wrote: »

tbh rog is far from finished and is still the better oh imo...just not on his top form. Perhaps a genuine contender for his place (if that even is Sexton) will push him and the competition can only be good for him and Ireland

If I was honest I'd change that to is not finished yet. He's 32 though (or 33?). He's really not got more than 1 or 2 seasons at the top left. Actually replace 'the top' with 'his top.'

He's had a mixed year, neither brilliant nor awful, but a lot of both at times, he's clearly still astonishingly talented, but Sexton's looking most likely to replace him.

Ian Humphreys isn't quite strong enough defensively, Keatley's not really looking as developed as the other three and so that leaves Sexton. O'Gara and Sexton in tandem could give O'Gara's international career more longevity. (Put O'Gara on at 50 minutes in slightly easier games? Start him for 50 in important ones and just tell him to play knowing he doesn't have to last 80.)

Either way there'll be a necessity to remove O'Gara from the 10 jersey in a maximum of two or three years, so both Munster and Ireland need to get ready for it. He's been great for both for a long long time, but nothing lasts forever.

Micky Dolenz · 10-05-2009 02:31PM

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Either way there'll be a necessity to remove O'Gara from the 10 jersey in a maximum of two or three years, so both Munster and Ireland need to get ready for it. He's been great for both for a long long time, but nothing lasts forever.

Not as much of a big deal to Munster considering they could probably bring in a quality 10, much more of a problem for Ireland though.

Chucky the tree · 10-05-2009 02:37PM

I'd expect munster to go for keatley in a season or two. It's set up perfectly for them, Keatley gets another two seasons at connaught to improve and get game time then while ROG will do well to go beyond 3 more seasons. Bring Keatley in another the second season and let them battle it out.

anonymous_joe · 10-05-2009 02:46PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Not as much of a big deal to Munster considering they could probably bring in a quality 10, much more of a problem for Ireland though.

Well it's not going to be cheap or easy to do so. Sure ROG is your highest paid player isn't he?

There aren't many O'Gara's floating around really.

For Ireland there definitely needs to be a move to replace him soon. Not because of his level of performance but because of his age.

Micky Dolenz · 10-05-2009 02:52PM

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Well it's not going to be cheap or easy to do so. Sure ROG is your highest paid player isn't he?

There aren't many O'Gara's floating around really.

For Ireland there definitely needs to be a move to replace him soon. Not because of his level of performance but because of his age.

Warrick is a capable replacement at the moment and tare plenty more out there. If they could sign the top try scoreing All Back, I am sure they could sign a quality player for such a pivitol positon.

O Gara's career records may not be broken for a while and while I would hope Munster and indeed Ireland get another legendary OH in our life time, I would accept a quality 10 as a replacement.

myflipflops · 10-05-2009 02:53PM

If Ireland were playing NZ/OZ/SA/England/France/Wales in a test match next week, there really would be no debate as to who would start 10. It would be O'Gara.

Sexton needs to produce his current from on a consistant basis to give himself a chance to be the Irish first choice 10. He's not there yet.

anonymous_joe · 10-05-2009 03:11PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Warrick is a capable replacement at the moment and tare plenty more out there. If they could sign the top try scoreing All Back, I am sure they could sign a quality player for such a pivitol positon.

O Gara's career records may not be broken for a while and while I would hope Munster and indeed Ireland get another legendary OH in our life time, I would accept a quality 10 as a replacement.

Oh I've no doubts about Warwick's talent.

Though then you'd need a full back with a good kicking game to come in. ^^

O'Gara's retirement will weaken the team, and that's the highest praise you can give a guy like that.

pwhite587 wrote: »

If Ireland were playing NZ/OZ/SA/England/France/Wales in a test match next week, there really would be no debate as to who would start 10. It would be O'Gara.

Sexton needs to produce his current from on a consistant basis to give himself a chance to be the Irish first choice 10. He's not there yet.

Well obviously it'd be O'Gara, but Sexton's outplayed both Lions out-halves in successive weeks. He's got a good bit of talent, he's a big lad, not slow and he can kick and pass. At the moment he's looking very good.

myflipflops · 10-05-2009 05:32PM

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Well obviously it'd be O'Gara, but Sexton's outplayed both Lions out-halves in successive weeks. He's got a good bit of talent, he's a big lad, not slow and he can kick and pass. At the moment he's looking very good.

Absolutely, looking forward to hopefullly seeing him play week in, week out for Leinster next year. The indecision over our best team really hurt Leinster at times this year, especially the issue at 10. I'd be happy Leinster fan if a home bred player nailed down the spot!!

stereo_mike · 19-05-2009 02:22PM

i picked up a copy of the six nations grand slam dvd there last week and afteer going through it and having watched most of the magners league and heineken cup games have realised that o'gara isnt really the top class player that people are let believe.if you look over the six nations, he almost cost us the england game by dropping 11 point (maybe more) and the watching him in defence he really has no hope he just gets ploughed over.fair enough he is the top points scorer of all time and all that good stuff but when he has a bad day he really has a bad day.the problem with that is that they are coming more and more.
as far as sexton for the irish no 10 jersey, i'm not sure he is there quite yet, there are other players in the shape of keatly from conacht and humphreys from ulster.both of which are coming on in leaps and bounds.irish rugby is about to head into a great great period but i do think that ogara is still the starting no 10 but for how much longer is the question

chupacabra · 19-05-2009 03:40PM

stereo_mike wrote: »

i picked up a copy of the six nations grand slam dvd there last week and afteer going through it and having watched most of the magners league and heineken cup games have realised that o'gara isnt really the top class player that people are let believe.if you look over the six nations, he almost cost us the england game by dropping 11 point (maybe more) and the watching him in defence he really has no hope he just gets ploughed over.fair enough he is the top points scorer of all time and all that good stuff but when he has a bad day he really has a bad day.the problem with that is that they are coming more and more.
as far as sexton for the irish no 10 jersey, i'm not sure he is there quite yet, there are other players in the shape of keatly from conacht and humphreys from ulster.both of which are coming on in leaps and bounds.irish rugby is about to head into a great great period but i do think that ogara is still the starting no 10 but for how much longer is the question

I would be of an opposing view that ireland is entering a great period, all our best players are in their last years and tho the talent coming through is good.. its not as good as weve had for a few years now. We are really really struggling for long term replacements at a number of positions and until things improve i'll hold my judgement on the future for now. Needless to say, these upcoming summer internationals will be very telling.

stereo_mike · 19-05-2009 04:08PM

yeah there are a few places where there might be a few concerns.but if you follow the back down to club level you can see that there are a definitely a few things to look forward too. i was at the AIL final down in thomond park the other week and it was a brilliant game of rugby, extra time and all.i think we are in a better position than people think we are when you see club level games that are played to such a competitive level,but yeah i'm looking forward to seeing how the summer tour goes

anonymous_joe · 19-05-2009 04:30PM

chupacabra wrote: »

I would be of an opposing view that ireland is entering a great period, all our best players are in their last years and tho the talent coming through is good.. its not as good as weve had for a few years now. We are really really struggling for long term replacements at a number of positions and until things improve i'll hold my judgement on the future for now. Needless to say, these upcoming summer internationals will be very telling.

Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney, Jamie Heaslip, Rory Best, O'Leary, Stephen Ferris.

You are obviously right that there's never again going to be someone as good as O'Driscoll, and that O'Gara'll be tough to replace, but it's not all doom and gloom.

Podge_irl · 19-05-2009 04:30PM

chupacabra wrote: »

I would be of an opposing view that ireland is entering a great period, all our best players are in their last years and tho the talent coming through is good.. its not as good as weve had for a few years now. We are really really struggling for long term replacements at a number of positions and until things improve i'll hold my judgement on the future for now. Needless to say, these upcoming summer internationals will be very telling.

Ferris, Heaslip, Bowe, Fitzgerald, Kearney, O'Leary, Best.

They're as good as anything we've had in their positions over the last decade or so. A replacement for Hayes is an issue, but he while a stalwart he was never the world's greatest prop - Ross should be a manageable replacement. Healy is better than Horan in my view. Sexton is showing signs of being a more than capable replacement for ROG, which would have been the main concern until recently (there is also Keatley).

The only two areas of concern are at lock and centre. Toner, Ryan and Caldwell all look reasonably good, but I wouldn't be overly enamoured with just that as a set of options. In the centres, BOD is irreplaceable. We won't find someone anywhere near as good to take over from him, but no team would. He's consistently been the best NH player over the last decade, Ireland will obviously be worse without him so that is a concern alright.

I never bought this golden generation nonsense, and I don't buy the fact that Ireland are screwed now either.

Trojan · 19-05-2009 05:08PM

Cian Healy is really starting to impress me. I still can't get over the fact that it's going to be 10 years before he hits his prime

ALH-06 · 19-05-2009 05:20PM

Podge_irl wrote: »

The only two areas of concern are at lock and centre. Toner, Ryan and Caldwell all look reasonably good, but I wouldn't be overly enamoured with just that as a set of options. In the centres, BOD is irreplaceable. We won't find someone anywhere near as good to take over from him, but no team would. He's consistently been the best NH player over the last decade, Ireland will obviously be worse without him so that is a concern alright.

I never bought this golden generation nonsense, and I don't buy the fact that Ireland are screwed now either.

I agree - BOD is irreplaceable, that's a given. But there are plenty of promising centres coming through, probably more than in any other position. We've got Earls, Fitzgerald, Cave, O'Malley, McFadden and this new guy Whitten to name a few. Really don't think there'll be a problem at centre in the near future.

anonymous_joe · 19-05-2009 05:43PM

ALH-06 wrote: »

I agree - BOD is irreplaceable, that's a given. But there are plenty of promising centres coming through, probably more than in any other position. We've got Earls, Fitzgerald, Cave, O'Malley, McFadden and this new guy Whitten to name a few. Really don't think there'll be a problem at centre in the near future.

We have however, been a little complacent tactically - BOD gives you so much solidity, he's such an immense player that he does more than one players work load.

The names you've mentioned are all going to be fantastic players, but none of them will be as superhuman as BOD I reckon.

It's a bit like having a Jonah Lomu, some guys just do that bit more.

I think in the medium term future, we'll miss O'Gara most, but I reckon in the long term it'll be O'Driscoll whose retirement has the greatest effect on Irish rugby.

ALH-06 · 19-05-2009 05:46PM

anonymous_joe wrote: »

We have however, been a little complacent tactically - BOD gives you so much solidity, he's such an immense player that he does more than one players work load.

The names you've mentioned are all going to be fantastic players, but none of them will be as superhuman as BOD I reckon.

It's a bit like having a Jonah Lomu, some guys just do that bit more.

I think in the medium term future, we'll miss O'Gara most, but I reckon in the long term it'll be O'Driscoll whose retirement has the greatest effect on Irish rugby.

Yep absolutely, couldn't agree more

[Jackass] · 19-05-2009 06:25PM

Trojan wrote: »

Cian Healy is really starting to impress me. I still can't get over the fact that it's going to be 10 years before he hits his prime

Couldn't agree more. He's already far better than Horan imo and it would be a joke if he's not first choice number one by the end of the next six nations. The lad is 21 too!! He's gonna be some player for a lonnnnng time in Irish rugby hopefully.

As for Sexton, he's not past O'Gara yet. He doesn't have the track record O'Gara does, but on current form he is the better out half. If he puts in a season of this next year as first choice 10 at Leinster and if his kicking remains solid throughout the season I can see no reason why he wouldn't be capped ahead of O'Gara at some point next season and be first choice 10 the following season.

danthefan · 19-05-2009 06:27PM

pwhite587 wrote: »

If Ireland were playing NZ/OZ/SA/England/France/Wales in a test match next week, there really would be no debate as to who would start 10. It would be O'Gara.

Sexton needs to produce his current from on a consistant basis to give himself a chance to be the Irish first choice 10. He's not there yet.

ROG might start but there'd be plenty of debate around it imo.

Johnny Sexton

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