Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'This has to be clear, Johnny (Sexton) was not dropped'

Leinster's Jonathan Sexton reacts dejectedly during the Champions Cup final loss to Saracens (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

PRO14 finalists Leinster have criticised media who reported that Johnny Sexton had been “dropped” for their league semi-final win over Munster last Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Irish club created inflammatory headlines of their own at the weekend. Coach Leo Cullen’s audaciously claimed that all Glasgow Warriors fans are Rangers football supporters and Celtic fans should support Leinster in next Saturday’s Celtic Park decider.

Cullen’s call was made all the stranger by the fact that Celtic are playing in the Scottish Cup football final next Saturday and will be busy elsewhere away from the rugby decider.

Despite this gaffe of their own making, Cullen took umbrage with reports regarding Sexton being replaced in the No10 shirt by Ross Byrne which ignored how Leinster were merely rotating their squad a week after their Champions Cup final defeat to Saracens, not unceremoniously dropping the axe on their star out-half.

Cullen’s initially let fly in the aftermath of the semi-final and the matter was followed up by assistant coach Felipe Contepomi when he addressed media ahead the final versus the Warriors.

“This has to be clear, Johnny was not dropped,” insisted the former out-half, whose injury in the 2009 European Cup semi-final effectively marked Sexton’s arrival as a name to watch as he went on to impress that day at Croke Park. “If that’s the way people want to see it or say it, that’s a perception or something that someone says from outside.

“We, and when I say we, it’s not only the staff but the players as we all want the best for Leinster, and Johnny demonstrated how great a team player and leader he is because he is the captain of the team.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Coming back from a very bruised 80 minutes in the Champions Cup and before (that) he was injured.
“We thought and everyone agreed that maybe the best thing for him was to come off the bench and be fresh or as fresh as possible.

“He showed, his show and go and break, and I think sometimes… I’m not saying journalists but you want to have a headline of ‘Jonathan Sexton dropped’. We don’t drop him, we all agree and are in the same boat and Johnny is one of them.

“He showed it, his attitude was fantastic throughout the week. His input for the team, for Ross, and his mindset to come in and do the best for the team. That’s what he does.”

WATCH: Leo Cullen’s post-match interview following last Saturday’s win over Munster

Video Spacer

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

KOKO Show | July 8th | Bernard Foley stops by to talk the Wallabies winning and Lions being tested

England v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Georgia vs Ireland | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

Lions Share | Episode 2

Chile vs Romania | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

USA vs Belgium | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

Touchdown in Dublin, The Red Sea Returns & We Prepare to Face Argentina | Ep 2: The Ultimate Test

South Africa v British & Irish Lions | 2009 | Second Test | The Vaults

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

f
fl 1 hour ago
Springboks' dominance of the world rankings comes under increased threat

good comment, but ranking points being doubled during the RWC won’t actually have the effect you’re implying.


You still only lose ranking points if you’re beaten by a team that you could conceivably beat, hence why Italy lose no points when beaten by South Africa. Wales entering the RWC in 2027 in a group full of teams better than them would mean that they would lose no points, or only a very small amount of points, by being beaten, but would have the potential to drastically improve their ranking with just a single upset win.


E.g. using today’s ranking points, lets imagine Wales drew Ireland, Fiji, and Romania in their pool, losing against the first two but beating Romania, then lost to France in the R16. The worst case scenario (losing to Fiji, Ireland, and France by more than 15 points, and beating Romania by less than 15) would only lose Wales 0.66 points. The alternate scenario (coming within 15 points of Fiji and beating Romania by more than 15) would lose Wales just 0.29 points. The dream scenario of Wales securing a narrow win over Fiji would improve Wales’ score by 3.37 points, although I cba factoring in how that would impact Wales’ draw in the knockouts. Feel free to check these calculations yourself at the website called “World Rugby Rankings Calculator”, which is easily found through google but which I don’t think I can link to directly on here.


Its worth remembering that England finished 3rd at the world cup and Ireland lost in the QFs, but because England had a much easier draw than Ireland they finished the tournament ranked 5th, and Ireland 2nd. Overall the rankings do a pretty great job of fairly reflecting how well teams have played.

3 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING 'Constantly talking off the field': Andy Farrell singles out Lion after win 'Constantly talking off the field': Andy Farrell singles out Lion
Search