Jonathan Sexton needs to deliver if Lions are going to beat All Blacks in second Test

Alex Broun 08:22 01/07/2017
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  • Cometh the hour, cometh the man – and in the eyes of British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland, that man is Johnny Sexton on Saturday in Wellington.

    With the Lions one down in the series and needing to win the second Test to keep the series alive, the Ireland fly-half has been landed the greatest challenge of his career to try and mastermind a victory over the rampant All Blacks.

    Gatland is stuck in something of a time-warp, calling on the heroes of four years ago who clinched a famous Lions series victory in Australia. On a stunning night in Sydney the Lions won the third Test of that series 41-16 with Sexton at 10, Jonathan Davies at outside centre, Alun Wyn Jones at lock, Sean O’Brien at flanker and Toby Faletau at No8.

    Three other Lions starters on Saturday came off the bench in 2013 – prop Mako Vunipola, scrum half Conor Murray, and inside centre/fly-half Owen Farrell. Sam Warburton, who captains the tourists, was also skipper in 2013 but tellingly missed the third Test due to injury with in-form Dan Lydiate starting alongside O’Brien and Faletau.

    Two other 2017 Lions who started in Sydney in 2013, George North and Leigh Halfpenny, miss out on this Test – Halfpenny is dropped and North through injury. You cannot blame Gatland for putting his faith in the Lions (and Wales) stars who have brought triumphs to him in the past, but this is 2017 and not 2013 and on Saturday they face Steve Hansen’s All Blacks not Robbie Dean’s Wallabies.

    The impressive effort of four years ago will not get the Lions over the line and indeed it can be argued that the Lions of 2017 are no match for the 2013 vintage. Many of those who featured four years ago are no longer at the same standard – Alun Wyn Jones, Warburton, to name two, and most notably Sexton.

    The 31-year-old Leinster playmaker was breathtaking that night at ANZ Stadium but has not been the same player since he suffered a number of concussions in the 2015-16 season, though he was outstanding when Ireland beat the All Blacks in Chicago last November.

    He only played three of this year’s Six Nations matches including the surprise loss to Wales in Cardiff – and his form was poor as Leinster were meekly knocked out of the semi-finals of both the Champions Cup by Clermont and the PRO12 by the Scarlets.

    Sexton was at his best four years ago

    Sexton was at his best four years ago

    The loss in the PRO12 was especially galling as it came in Dublin to the tune of 27-15 and worryingly Sexton was unable to inspire his team to victory even in front of the passionate Leinster faithful.

    Perhaps this is due to the ongoing toll of the head injuries, which actually stretch back to December 2014 when his then French club Racing Metro confirmed that he had suffered four concussions and as a result would serve a 12-week stand-down period. Then in 2015 after a heavy hit from French forward Louis Picamoles in the Rugby World Cup he was ruled of the quarter-final against Argentina, which Ireland lost heavily.

    Certainly Sexton remains the target of many opposing defenders but it’s more his tackling technique that causes injuries as he goes in too high, leaving his head exposed. On Saturday of course he will need to deal with one Sonny Bill Williams who will be picking him out time and again in the defensive line and running straight at him.

    Many of the Lions players this week – Warburton, Vunipola, even 22-year-old Maro Itoje – have said this is the most important/defining moment of their career. Despite the hyperbole that could be true for Sexton. He may go on to play a starring role for Ireland in the 2019 Rugby World Cup but to be truly regarded as a legend of the game he needs to win in New Zealand.

    Gatland has risked the whole series on an attacking, ball-in-hand style on Saturday, which is like trying to outsprint Usain Bolt, and Sexton, along with Farrell, will be expected to out-manoeuvre the All Blacks. Sexton was poor against the NZ Barbarians and Blues, better against the Crusaders and Maori, and fair-to-middling in the first Test as he came off the bench for the last 23 minutes.

    He will need to be back to his 2013 best – and then some – if the Lions are to stop the third Test becoming a damp squib.

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