Johnny Sexton
Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton is an Irish former rugby union player and coach who played as a fly-half and captained the Ireland national team from 2019 until 2023. He also played club rugby for Leinster and French side Racing 92.
He also represented the British & Irish Lions on their 2013 and 2017 tours, and has scored over 1,100 points in his international career, making him one of the highest points-scorers in rugby union history. He has been described by players and coaches as the world's best fly-half during his career and as Ireland's best ever player.
Sexton was the winner of World Rugby Player of the Year in 2018, having previously been a nominee for the award in 2014 and then again in 2022. He was the second Irish player in history to win the award, after the inaugural winner Keith Wood, in 2001.
Sexton became the 106th player to captain Ireland when he led the team out at their 2019 World Cup 3rd Pool A group match at the Kobe Misaki Stadium in Japan on 3 October 2019. He was officially named captain for the 2020 Six Nations, a role he retained through the 2023 World Cup. He is the all-time record points scorer for Ireland.
Early life
Sexton was born in Rathgar, Dublin, but has family ties to North Kerry and West Clare; he is a nephew of former Garryowen, Munster and Ireland rugby player William Sexton. In his formative years, Sexton played mini rugby with Bective Rangers in Donnybrook, Dublin, the club of his father, who is a long-standing member. He attended St Mary's College, Dublin and scored a drop goal in the dying moments of the school's 2002 Leinster Senior Schools Cup final victory. His performances at St. Mary's led to Sexton being selected for Leinster.Club career
Leinster
2005–2008
Sexton began his Leinster career playing one game in the 2005–06 season as a result of his performances for St. Mary's. He came on as a substitute against Border Reivers.Sexton played three games in the 2006–07 season. Although he only played 12 minutes against Ospreys, he scored a conversion. He went on to kick three penalties in his other games, which were against Ulster and Munster. In all, that season he scored 11 points in only 143 minutes of playtime.
In the 2007–08 season, Sexton started against Edinburgh and scored one try, one conversion and two penalties. He scored his second try of the season against Cardiff Blues, in which game he scored a further two conversions and two penalties. He followed that up by scoring a conversion and two penalties against the Scarlets. He ended 2007 scoring a further 23 points against Ulster and Glasgow Warriors. He then finished off the season with 14 points in his games against Munster Rugby and Newport Gwent Dragons. Overall, he scored 73 points during the 2007–08 season.
2008–2010
At the start of the season, Sexton played seven matches against Cardiff, Edinburgh and Munster in September. In October, he played against Connacht, Edinburgh, London Wasps and Glasgow. He finished the season on a high, scoring 64 points after November. He got a call up to the Ireland team for the 2008 Six Nations, but was ruled out by injury.Sexton was part of Leinster's Celtic League winning side for the 2007–08 season. On 2 May 2009, he established himself in the Leinster first team, replacing the injured Argentine fly-half Felipe Contepomi as an early substitute in the Heineken Cup semi-final to help Leinster beat rivals Munster 25–6. He then started in Leinster's home match against the Scarlets in the Celtic League, scoring 15 points in a man of the match performance.
Contepomi's cruciate ligament injury ruled him out for the rest of Leinster's campaign; he signed with French giants Stade Francais the following season. Sexton started the 2009 Heineken Cup Final against Leicester Tigers, where he kicked an amazing drop goal from the halfway line and also kicked the winning penalty. Leinster went on to win their first European Cup 16–19 at Murrayfield.
Sexton played league and Heineken cup matches against Scarlets, Dragons, Ospreys, Edinburgh, Munster, London Irish, Brive, Ulster and Cardiff before being called up to the Ireland team for a match against Fiji. He scored 16 points with five conversions and two penalties in a 41–6 victory. He then scored all of Ireland's points through five penalties, leading Ireland to a 15–10 win against South Africa.
Upon recovering from a hand injury sustained during the Ireland–South Africa autumn international fixture in 2009, Sexton helped Leinster to secure a bonus point win over Brive in the Heineken Cup to take command of their pool. The following week in their pool decider, Sexton scored a drop goal in the dying minutes against London Irish at Twickenham to even up the score at eleven all. This secured Leinster a home advantage in the Heineken Cup quarter finals and knocked the Exiles out of the competition. In 2010, Sexton played six games for Ireland, scoring 37 points in matches against England, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia.
Sexton's ability was highlighted on his return from injury in the 2010–11 season, where he helped Leinster recover from a shaky start to the season as a second-half substitute in their win over Munster in the Celtic League. Following this victory, he helped Leinster win over Racing Metro and Saracens in the Heineken Cup. In the second match, he received a man of the match award after scoring 25 points, including a try, giving his team the top spot in a pool regarded as one of the most competitive in Heineken Cup history. A poll taken by planetrugby.com following these performances suggested that Sexton was then regarded as the top fly-half in Europe.
2010–2011
Sexton played 19 times for Leinster that season, scoring 237 points. He scored two tries as Leinster won the Heineken Cup after trailing 22–6 at half-time to win the match 33–22. Leinster then had the chance to add a second trophy by winning the Pro12. However, Munster beat them 19–9 in the final, with Sexton kicking three penalties.During Leinster's 2011 Heineken Cup final against the Northampton Saints, Sexton scored 28 points including 2 tries in a historic comeback, when Leinster beat Northampton 33–22 at the Millennium Stadium after falling 22–6 down at half-time. Sexton won the man of the match award and his second Heineken Cup medal. His 28 points in that match makes him the second-highest scorer in one game in Heineken Cup history. Sexton stated that his career-defining performance was dedicated to his late grandfather, John Sexton – the hugely popular Listowel businessman who had died a few months earlier. However, Sexton and Leinster could not snatch the first Heineken Cup and Celtic League double that season, with the club losing to Munster in the 2011 Celtic League Final.
2011–2012
Sexton played 16 games for Leinster in 2011–12, scoring a try, 29 conversions, three drop goals and four penalties. He totalled 213 points overall. He won the Heineken Cup with Leinster that year and came runner up in the RaboDirect Pro 12, losing to Ospreys in the final. He started in all five matches in the Six Nations.In May 2012, Irish heavyweights Leinster and Sexton achieved their third Heineken Cup triumph in four seasons against Irish rivals Ulster as they established themselves as giants of the European game. First-half tries by flanker Seán O'Brien and prop Cian Healy put Leinster on the way towards a record-breaking triumph. Leinster's reign as Heineken Cup holders was never seriously threatened in front of almost 82,000 spectators at Twickenham. Jonathan Sexton kicked three conversions and three penalties for a 15-point haul as Leinster became the first team since Leicester Tigers in 2002 to successfully defend the Heineken Cup. When replacement prop Heinke van der Merwe and Seán Cronin scored near full-time, it gave Leinster the biggest ever winning margin in a Heineken Cup final, Leinster 42–14 Ulster.
2012–2013
The 2012–13 season proved successful for Sexton as he helped Leinster win their first Pro 12 title since the Celtic League, having been runners up the previous three seasons. Despite the disappointment of failing to gain access to the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup that year, Sexton helped Leinster win their first Amlin Challenge Cup, a third European title in three years. He spent a portion of the season sidelined due to injury, allowing his understudy Ian Madigan to play at outside half.It was announced that Sexton would leave Leinster at the end of the season to join Racing Metro, as he had failed to agree terms with the IRFU, despite his outspoken intent to remain in a blue jersey for the remainder of his career. In January 2013, Sexton informed the IRFU that he would not be renewing his contract with Leinster. He left the province at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Racing 92
Rumours began to circulate midway through the 2012–13 season that Sexton had agreed to join Racing 92 in Paris at the end of the season for a salary reported in the region of €750,000 per annum, making him one of the highest-paid players in the world. The reports were then confirmed by Sexton and Racing Metro after talks with the IRFU over a new contract had broken down. Sexton joined fellow British & Irish Lions teammates Jamie Roberts and Dan Lydiate as the club's marquee signings for the 2013–14 season, while his former adversary for the Irish 10 jersey Ronan O'Gara was confirmed as a coach for the club. Sexton stated that he had been unaware of O'Gara's arrival, but was happy at the news as both men had developed a good working friendship in their later years together in the Ireland set-up, despite a reportedly fractious early relationship during Sexton's emergence.Sexton's departure came as a surprise to many in Ireland, as he had been a key player for both Leinster and Ireland in the preceding years, and had stated his intention to remain at the club. He cited the Parisian club's ambitious new project and impressive training facilities as factors in choosing them over traditionally more successful European clubs outside Ireland.
In Sexton's first year as a non-Leinster player, Racing Metro struggled to impose itself as a force in Europe, as they failed to qualify from the group stages of the Heineken Cup.