Former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman believes that Johnny Sexton’s ability to unlock defences is akin to Manchester City and Belgium football star Kevin De Bruyne.
Sexton has been a key player for both club and country over the past 13 years, earning 108 international caps and remaining as Ireland’s first choice fly-half.
The 37-year-old made his first start for Leinster this season in the Irish province’s clash against the Sharks on Saturday.
He was at his creative best as the Dubliners amassed over half a century of points in the 54-34 triumph at the RDS Arena.
Despite his advancing years, Sexton continues to impress and his abilities have drawn comparisons with one of the great modern day footballers.
Producing the right pass
“He is like Kevin De Bruyne in terms of being able to pull the right pass,” Jackman said on the The42 Rugby Weekly Extra podcast.
“It’s all really easy stuff, it looks really easy because he stays attached out the back of a pod and most of the passes he plays are simple passes, but yet you don’t see any other 10 being able to do it so regularly. The timing of it is phenomenal.
“Also, he’s probably one of the few players where when he seems to be rattled, it doesn’t seem to affect his game and maybe even makes him better. It has zero effect, him getting angsty with the referee or opposition, on his next play.”
Although Sexton drew admiration for his performance on Saturday, the Leinster captain was also criticised for his attitude towards referee Craig Evans.
Jackman is therefore expecting the fly-half to receive some extra attention if he tours South Africa with Leinster later this season.
“If you’re the South Africans now, I think plenty of the fans were fired up with him and probably the Sharks players as well found him very annoying, so if he goes down to South Africa this year, they will try to upset him,” he said.
“There will be late tackles and verbals, etc. but I actually don’t think that will have an impact on his game.”
No victory without Sexton
Sexton was crucial to Leinster’s triumph over the Sharks, with the fly-half guiding his side through a difficult period and to a 20-point win in the United Rugby Championship.
Just shy of the hour mark the Dublin outfit only led 28-27, but the Ireland playmaker inspired them to victory in the final quarter.
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“Leinster got themselves into a muddle against the Sharks and there probably would have been a temptation to play him for 60 minutes but they had a lot of injuries, he went 80 and it was nearly flawless,” Jackman added.
“If Johnny had gone off at 55, the way the game was going, I would have thought Leinster could lose. That’s not a criticism of Ross Byrne because I rate him.
“But I loved the fact it was a battle. I never felt Leinster were going to lose with Johnny on the pitch. They have obviously lost games with him on the pitch before but, with the Sharks missing five Boks, he was a level above.
“It’s testament to his drive that he’s able to come in for his first start and be absolutely brilliant.”