A LATER THAN planned seasonal re-appearance for Johnny Sexton, but for all the frustration of having to bide his time during this pre-season block, the Ireland out-half knows it could have been a whole lot worse.
The thumb injury he sustained earlier in the summer raised immediate concern over Sexton’s wellbeing for the World Cup and the 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year was forced to sit out Ireland’s first three warm-up outings.
Johnny Sexton at Carton House today. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
But having been held back by Joe Schmidt for those games, Sexton is now ready to start Saturday’s final hit-out against Wales at the Aviva Stadium, as Ireland ramp up their preparations for the World Cup opener against Scotland in three short weeks.
Although Sexton, by his very nature, was left frustrated while watching from the sidelines, the 34-year-old admits he was fortunate to escape greater damage to his left hand after an innocuous training-ground injury.
Sexton sustained the injury during Ireland’s first training block in Carton House, clipping his thumb off the heal of Dave Kilcoyne’s boot, and despite wearing protective strapping for a number of weeks, avoided having to go under the knife.
“It’s all good, it was just an unfortunate injury really,” he said at Carton House this afternoon.
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“[I was] playing touch rugby, fitness games and got my hand caught in between someone’s legs and I dislocated my thumb. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.
Look, I was blessed that it ended up being fine. It was four weeks in a splint and then looking after it, then get out and get comfortable with the ball again and reintroduce the contact.
“It could have been one of those nightmare scenarios where you have to get an operation and then you are struggling to play any rugby before you go. Things could have been a lot worse so I’m unfortunate but thankful.”
Although his involvement in contact sessions was limited during those early weeks at the team’s Maynooth base, Sexton has been able to use the extended pre-season period to work on his fitness and strength and conditioning.
“I did a lot of extra running sessions and conditioning, which is good for me. It’s been a long time since I got a long block,” he explained.
“Sometimes after Lions tours, you get a few weeks and then you are back into it and then the next season you are looking after injuries [so] it was good to get an extended pre-season really.
Sexton is raring to go this weekend. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Hopefully I’ll see the benefits of it on Saturday if I get out there. That first match back is always a shock to the system so I’m nervous about that but looking forward to it as well.”
Sexton, who will win his 84th cap, is set for his first appearance since Leinster’s Pro14 final win over Glasgow Warriors at the end of May, having also reported ‘stiffness and soreness’ last week.
With Joey Carbery sidelined, it came as no surprise that Schmidt has carefully managed Sexton through this block and now he’ll need to hit the ground running in his only run-out before Scotland in Yokohama.
After a long summer of hard work, Sexton trusts the plans put in place by the management and strength and conditioning coach Jason Cowman, as Ireland’s key players bid to peak at the right time.
“What we’ve done so far is we’ve trusted the process because we’ve got one of the best guys in the world in Jason Cowman and he puts the plan together and the plan is for us to peak over the next few weeks and peak for that Scotland game,” he added.
“We trust in the process, it’s easy for us, we just put our head down and work as hard as we can and get told when to stop.
“We need to narrow the focus down to the Wales game in terms of what we have to do preparation-wise to build in towards Scotland.”
Murray Kinsella joins Gavan Casey, Ryan Bailey and Sean Farrell with their immediate reaction to Ireland’s 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
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Sexton relieved and raring to go after 'unfortunate' thumb injury
A LATER THAN planned seasonal re-appearance for Johnny Sexton, but for all the frustration of having to bide his time during this pre-season block, the Ireland out-half knows it could have been a whole lot worse.
The thumb injury he sustained earlier in the summer raised immediate concern over Sexton’s wellbeing for the World Cup and the 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year was forced to sit out Ireland’s first three warm-up outings.
But having been held back by Joe Schmidt for those games, Sexton is now ready to start Saturday’s final hit-out against Wales at the Aviva Stadium, as Ireland ramp up their preparations for the World Cup opener against Scotland in three short weeks.
Although Sexton, by his very nature, was left frustrated while watching from the sidelines, the 34-year-old admits he was fortunate to escape greater damage to his left hand after an innocuous training-ground injury.
Sexton sustained the injury during Ireland’s first training block in Carton House, clipping his thumb off the heal of Dave Kilcoyne’s boot, and despite wearing protective strapping for a number of weeks, avoided having to go under the knife.
“It’s all good, it was just an unfortunate injury really,” he said at Carton House this afternoon.
“[I was] playing touch rugby, fitness games and got my hand caught in between someone’s legs and I dislocated my thumb. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.
“It could have been one of those nightmare scenarios where you have to get an operation and then you are struggling to play any rugby before you go. Things could have been a lot worse so I’m unfortunate but thankful.”
Although his involvement in contact sessions was limited during those early weeks at the team’s Maynooth base, Sexton has been able to use the extended pre-season period to work on his fitness and strength and conditioning.
“I did a lot of extra running sessions and conditioning, which is good for me. It’s been a long time since I got a long block,” he explained.
“Sometimes after Lions tours, you get a few weeks and then you are back into it and then the next season you are looking after injuries [so] it was good to get an extended pre-season really.
“Hopefully I’ll see the benefits of it on Saturday if I get out there. That first match back is always a shock to the system so I’m nervous about that but looking forward to it as well.”
Sexton, who will win his 84th cap, is set for his first appearance since Leinster’s Pro14 final win over Glasgow Warriors at the end of May, having also reported ‘stiffness and soreness’ last week.
With Joey Carbery sidelined, it came as no surprise that Schmidt has carefully managed Sexton through this block and now he’ll need to hit the ground running in his only run-out before Scotland in Yokohama.
After a long summer of hard work, Sexton trusts the plans put in place by the management and strength and conditioning coach Jason Cowman, as Ireland’s key players bid to peak at the right time.
“What we’ve done so far is we’ve trusted the process because we’ve got one of the best guys in the world in Jason Cowman and he puts the plan together and the plan is for us to peak over the next few weeks and peak for that Scotland game,” he added.
“We trust in the process, it’s easy for us, we just put our head down and work as hard as we can and get told when to stop.
“We need to narrow the focus down to the Wales game in terms of what we have to do preparation-wise to build in towards Scotland.”
Murray Kinsella joins Gavan Casey, Ryan Bailey and Sean Farrell with their immediate reaction to Ireland’s 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
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10 Ireland Johnny Sexton RWC2019