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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Lions diary: A relaxed Johnny Sexton, Dostoevsky and questions of identity
Monday Johnny Sexton's a crowd puller. Upstairs in the University Club in UCD, the phalanx of cameras and mics are tested and checked and when he walks in, the room instinctively leans forward. Outside, students sit around on the grass eating braised sesame tofu and ramen, taking the cool air from the Main Lake at O'Reilly Hall, unaware that Lions coach Sexton, in his official Lions lounge attire, is kicking off the tour. Scotland lock Scott Cummings is also here along with Ben Earl, the England backrow. Earl is into Fyodor Dostoevsky, a colleague whispers. A frenzied search on Google for Earl and Rugby and USSR suggests it might be true. Mum: industrial retail CEO. Dad: solicitor. Education: Comparative literature Queen Mary University. It leaves out – Profession: human wrecking ball. READ MORE Sexton, the coach, smiles a little more and appears less tense than Sexton the player, and especially Sexton the captain. He says rugby suits him more than Sexton the businessman. He is here, he says, because Andy Farrell asked him. For the former Irish outhalf and captain, he's happy that tracksuits and mentoring have replaced Ardagh's bottle and can mountain. Assistant coach Jonathan Sexton with head coach Andy Farrell. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho 'It's hard to contribute because you're sitting in a room with people that have 20 years, 30 years' experience in the industry. Whereas that's me now – I've had 20 years' experience [in rugby],' he says. Nobody dares ask Earl about Dostoevsky, terrified he might talk about morality, freedom, faith, and the human condition through the lens of existentialism. Tuesday Which one is Felipe Contepomi, a young girl asks no one in particular. The sun is blazing down on the balcony at Old Belvedere and the Argentinian players look iridescent perspiring in the heat haze. At their base in the Radisson Hotel, they climbed out of the plunge pools set up in the garden and ambled in their budgie smugglers back into the hotel. Go Los Pumas! Today though, the blue sky and warmth spark off a brief personal reminiscence of glorious Nice and the last Rugby World Cup. Three weeks of belly up in the Med, occasionally drifting out to sea from La Promenade des Anglais, watching orange EasyJets low in the sky, wheels down coming into land. There is a drone or two in the air at Belvo, one of them peering directly down on a scrum on the far pitch. An answer comes back to the girl. Felipe's the one in the peaked cap. Small groups of people sprawled around the side of the pitch have turned up to watch. Inside, the former Irish Lion Ollie Campbell is the image you cannot fail to see turning from the bar to walk down the stairs. An eight-year Irish career but just 22 caps. Two Lions Tours, the first in 1980 to South Africa and in 1983 again to New Zealand. Seven Lions caps there. Former Ireland player Ollie Campbell. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho This is, after all, Ollie Campbell Park and the picture is of Campbell in that famous kicking pose. Are there any other images of him not of the follow through after the kick, the boot of his straight right leg at shoulder height and the long striations of muscle and tendon. The drones come in to land as the players stream off the pitch. Felipe, now 47 years old, picks up his little boy and grabs a ball. It is 20 years since he was top scorer with Leinster in both the 2005–06 Celtic League and the Heineken Cup. It is seven years since he was appointed as the new backs coach for Leinster, succeeding Girvan Dempsey, who moved to Bath. A colleague points towards the entrance to the grounds at a house which backs on to the club car park. Matt Doyle used to live there, he says of the likable Irish American tennis player who sadly died less than five months ago. There's history in these grounds. The takeaway is some Matt, but more Felipe kicking ball with a little boy in the warm summer wind. Wednesday Team announcement day in Aviva Stadium. Andy Farrell and Maro Itoje walk in through the door to the media auditorium, the Lions coach in blue, the team captain in red. Farrell holds a fixed semi-smile that gives the Rugby League Man of Steel an amiable, big softie head. The Lion's secondrow, Itoje, looks like a mature student who could be finishing his PhD. Note to self: How looks can deceive. The pair sit at the top table. 32 journalists, 10 cameras, nine microphones. Itoje sits on Farrell's right. The table is covered in Lions livery with large lettering of the tour message. There is always a tour message, an aspiration. 'WE GO BEYOND.' Maro Itoje and head coach Andy Farrell. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho 'It's the best of the best,' says Tommy Freeman of the squad during his interview. 'It's the best of the best,' says Tadhg Beirne when he arrives. 'We want to be the best version of ourselves,' says Farrell at the top table. 'We want to be the best version of ourselves,' says Beirne. Off-pitch the Lions are on message. That or they have been listening to double Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington from last year's Olympic Games. 'Everyone wants a gold medal, but I just want to be the best version of me,' said Kellie. Up in troubled Ballymena, the Lions team news may have been triggering for former captain Willie John McBride, who travelled on five Tours during the 1960s and 1970s and was 'bothered' by the non-native players Farrell selected in his squad. Bundee Aki, the only Irish back to play Argentina was born in New Zealand. Tighthead Prop Finlay Bealham and replacement winger Mack Hansen were both born in Australia. Scotland prop Pierre Schoeman and Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe were born in South Africa. Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu is Australian-born while England fullback Marcus Smith was born in the Philippines. James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, the list goes on. The 1974 Lions trip had 'one in, all in' on the call of '99″ from captain Willie John resulting in the battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium. It is now 2025 and Willie John has been metaphorically 99ed for his views. Note to self: what goes around comes around. T h ursday Burgundy Thursday. The Aviva pitch is laid out perfectly like a Michelin star restaurant table. At the bottom of the stepladders by the pitch side hoarding sit four rugby balls on a large white towel. On top of each ball four smaller white folded towels have been carefully placed. All sit beside a stack of yellow bibs and more rugby balls organised in a row. Early signs of OCD at the first Lions captain's run to take place on a Dublin surface. Burgundy tackle bags bearing the Lions logo of the four unions are gathered up by Simon Easterby and taken to the goal area. Former England scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth and Andrew Goodman (Beasterby, Wig and Goody) space them for the players' arrival. A terribly desolate place, this stadium when devoid of bodies. The echoes tell you nobody is here, an empty cathedral. But there is something about Aviva's size from the pitch that compels you to stand and aimlessly gaze up to the terraced seating. That is existential. BIL the mascot. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Then the players break out of the tunnel for 'The Captain's Run', a quaint exercise where accredited journalists stand at the side of the pitch for 15 minutes watching unusual things take place like Garry Ringrose deliberately throwing a pass to Tom Curry, or Henry Pollock breaking from the group with a four-foot cuddly lion called BIL (British and Irish Lion) and chucking him on a table at the side of the pitch. The England flanker is the youngest and responsible for BIL's safekeeping. 'This is basically your new girlfriend,' captain Itoje told Pollock. Just what a 20-year-old wants to hear. Itoje knows. He was BIL's former boyfriend as the youngest player on the 2017 tour. On the pitch injury-hit Irish prop Tadhg Furlong is doing his twisting runs from under the posts. Lovely hurling. James Ryan appears to be sitting it out and no sign of Jamison Gibson-Park. The vibe is upbeat, something like 'WE GO BEYOND'. All that's missing is Joe Schmidt's ghost rising from the West Stand.
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'He's got such an aura' - Farrell's rise to Lions top job
British and Irish Lions v ArgentinaVenue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Friday, 20 June Kick-off: 20:00 BSTCoverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app For British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell, building connections has always been as crucial to fostering a winning environment as tactics and systems. When he speaks to the media, he regularly outlines his desire to see players become the "best versions of themselves". Not the best tacklers, or goal-kickers or scrummagers, but the best "versions". Ask the players about Farrell and they will gush. Johnny Sexton knows him better than most. He was Ireland captain under him and is now part of his British and Irish Lions backroom team."It's been amazing to see already," Sexton said of watching Farrell in Lions camp. "We're only in week one and the standard of training, the atmosphere, the environment that he's created already in terms of getting people to share ideas, whether you're a coach or player, making it really inclusive, everyone has a voice and a say."The last thing Andy wants is fast forward four or five weeks' time when you've won or lost the series, he doesn't want people saying 'we should have done this, we should have done that'. "He wants you to speak now. That's the greatest part about the environment, it's a pretty special place to be at the moment and I'm sure it'll get better over the next couple of months."Farrell's ability to give clarity and confidence to those who come into his orbit extended to the British and Irish Lions decision-makers, who unanimously backed him as the man to lead this summer's tour to he was announced as head coach in January 2024, it surprised no-one. Now, nearly 18 months on, the 50-year-old is finally ready to tackle one of rugby's most daunting coaching challenges when he leads the Lions into Friday's pre-tour game against Argentina in Dublin. It is the start of an important new chapter for the Englishman. But everything up to this point shows he never shirks a challenge, and he usually finds success. Farrell's leadership skills were evident from a young age - and in a different in rugby league, he made his debut for Wigan Warriors at just 16, became the youngest Challenge Cup winner a year later in 1993 and captained Great Britain when he was 21. It wasn't all good in the 13-man discipline. Twenty of his 34 Great Britain appearances ended in defeat and he was captain for the 1996 tour which yielded three Test losses to New Zealand. The goal-kicking loose forward dreamed of testing himself in Australia's National Rugby League, which he considered the pinnacle of the sport. But after a move down under failed to materialise, he opted for arguably an even greater challenge: a switch to rugby union with Saracens in 2005. Injuries hampered his bid to become a cross-code phenomenon. He won eight caps for England, and while his 2007 World Cup was cut short by a calf problem, his enthusiasm to become a coaching powerhouse remained undimmed. His first opportunity came at Saracens - initially as Mark McCall's assistant - before he joined Stuart Lancaster's England ticket as defence coach in time for the 2012 Six Nations. "You could tell he was a leader as a player and as a head coach, you need a strong second voice in the changing room, that person who can take the weight off your shoulders a bit. Andy fulfilled that role for me," Lancaster told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast last also described Farrell as a "great orator" and that much became clear in 2013 when he delivered his now-famous "hurt arena" speech to the British and Irish Lions squad before the deciding third Test against Lions emerged from Sydney with their first tour win in 16 years (it also remains their most recent), while Farrell's star continued to rise when he returned as one of Gatland's assistants in the drawn 2017 series against New Zealand. His burgeoning status prompted the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) to swoop at the earliest possible opportunity, appointing him Ireland defence coach under Joe Schmidt within a month of his England exit, which came in the aftermath of the 2015 World Farrell served a three-year apprenticeship under Schmidt, it soon became clear after taking the top job in 2019 that his coaching style differed greatly from the New Zealander's. He emphasised the importance of marking landmarks like debuts or 50th or 100th caps with presentation ceremonies that often involved the players' families - an approach that would seem well-suited to a Lions environment where a lot of the players don't know each other."There's a different mentality around the place - a different relationship between players and coaches and a different relationship between players and players, going over stuff together," Ireland lock Iain Henderson said during the early stages of Farrell's reign."Before, the guys might have been a wee bit tentative about who they went and asked questions to. For fear of people thinking they don't know their detail, didn't know stuff."Five years on, Sexton's comments echo Henderson's words. It shows that creating a collaborative space in training and giving the players the confidence to express themselves has been the bedrock of Farrell's success with Ireland. Of course, he found the going tough initially, with mixed results during his first two years in charge leading Sexton to jump to his though, Farrell presided over one of the greatest periods in Irish rugby history, with talk of him as a future Lions boss intensifying after he led Ireland to a historic series success in New Zealand in 2022. And even though the All Blacks ended his side's World Cup campaign at the quarter-final stage in 2023, Farrell's 2022-23 run, that included a Six Nations Grand Slam and a 17-match unbeaten streak, effectively sealed his Lions appointment. 'When he speaks, you tune in' Since officially starting his Lions duties, Farrell has stuck to what he knows, plucking four coaches - Sexton, Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty - from the IRFU and flooding his squad with 16 Ireland players, several of whom will be absent on also took the squad on a pre-tour training camp in Quinta do Lago in Portugal, which has served as Ireland's warm-weather base before the Six Nations and World Cup in recent is still early days, but Farrell has clearly made an impression on those coming into contact with him for the first time. "He's got such an aura around the place," said Welsh scrum-half Tomos Williams, "Everyone turns their head when he speaks. He's been class, the level of detail and clarity he gives you is class."I think anyone would if you've got two caps or 100 caps. A person of his calibre, when he speaks, you just instantly tune in."
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Tadhg Beirne hilariously mocks new ‘Munster fan' Johnny Sexton ahead of Lions clash vs Argentina
TADHG BEIRNE has joked that he will do his best to help Johnny Sexton settle in as a Munster fan. And he is convinced that the Lions can start to gel as early as Friday night when 2 Tadhg Beirne was speaking ahead of the British & Irish Lions clash against Argentina of Friday 2 British and Irish Lions assistant coach Johnny Sexton joked that he's a Munster fan after the arrival of Rieko Ioane at Leinster Lions and Ireland assistant coach That was in response to And Beirne - one of three players, alongside Connacht duo Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki - is ready to help smooth Sexton's transition. Beirne laughed: "I was celebrating with him in the hotel yesterday. I was like, 'aw brilliant, can't wait to have you down' and offered him a bed to sleep in for any of the late games. read more on rugby "I'm looking forward to having him in the stands next year.' The Kildare man was in jovial form as he prepares for his second Lions tour, replying that he had 'probably gotten slower, put on a bit of weight' when asked in what way he had changed as a player since 2021. And he observed that Maro Itoje does not curse much when asked about the Lions skipper's leadership style. But he was more serious when asked if the Lions could be cohesive against the Pumas when still trying to adapt to a new system. Most read in Rugby Union He said: "Why wouldn't they be compatible? You're talking about world class players here. "The expectation we would have of each other is that you can adapt to any system you're given. That's the challenge of being a Lion. 'Big weekend' - Peter O'Mahony embarking on hectic gardening project as he aims to add '300 plants' "Every four years there's going to be a new system, the coach is going to want to play a certain way and if you want to be a Lion, you're going to have to adapt or you'll get left behind. "I would say if you came in here thinking that you could just play your club system or your country system, then you're probably already at a loss. "If you're not floating ideas to players in your position, you're already at a loss as well. We're in such a privileged position to come into these environments and learn from one another.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Felipe Contepomi on Leinster success, Johnny Sexton's coaching and ‘unlucky' Sam Prendergast
Felipe Contepomi alighted on familiar touchstones, gently directed to matters Leinster , Leo Cullen , Johnny Sexton , Sam Prendergast and Irish rugby during a press conference to announce the Argentina team for Friday night's Test match against the Lions at the Aviva Stadium (8pm). While it would be overstating matters a tad to suggest that it's a game between two scratch sides, Argentina are without a host of the French-based players including Toulouse trio Juan Cruz Malliá, Santiago Chocobares and Efrain Elias, Bordeaux's Guido Petti and Facundo Bosch, along with Rodrigo Bruni, Matteo Carreras, Bautista Delguy, Marcus Kremer and Facundo Isa to highlight another half-dozen absentees. Centre Justo Piccardo will make his debut while three of the bench share those circumstances. but for the Irish media contingent Contepomi's thoughts on a number of parochial matters superseded any chat about Friday night's game. Leinster's head coach Cullen rocked up to the Pumas training on Tuesday, a chance to catch up for the former team-mates and friends, who worked with the province in a coaching capacity too. Contepomi would still have skin in the game emotionally when it comes to Leinster. READ MORE He pushed back a little when it was suggested that the URC title win at Croke Park ended a four-year cycle of disappointment. 'Yeah, well, depending on how you see the disappointment, you know, playing finals, every season, I don't see it as a disappointing season. 'Maybe it's a disappointing day, you know, when you lose a final, but the season probably, it's a good season. I feel lucky Leo came yesterday to our training, so I caught up with him. I still keep in contact with him, and I'm delighted for Leinster. 'To get that silverware, more so to because they were the best team throughout the season and I think they were the best team last year [too], but they didn't win it. It's good to have silverware. Some players who contributed a lot are leaving, it's very good for them to leave with a medal.' Contepomi was asked about two Leinster outhalves, Prendergast the incumbent in the 10 jersey, and his predecessor, Sexton, who has taken up a coaching role with the Lions and will fulfil a similar role with Ireland later in the year. 'I think Sam was lurking around in the academy before I left. I could see his talent coming through, I didn't have to be a rugby brain to detect that he was a talented player. I think he's very talented. It's probably debatable and [he's] probably unlucky to have to miss out [on] the Lions, but he's a very young player and he will have a lot of opportunities. Leinster outhalf Sam Prendergast missed out on the Lions tour. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'The Lions from what I recall, they never finished with the same [number of players], whatever 40 something players they have, they never finished the tour with the same [number] who started. So, you need to be ready and I'm sure he's on the fringe of that. So, I don't know, I'm just assuming, right? I don't have inside information.' So was Contepomi surprised that Sexton has grabbed a whistle and tracksuit so quickly after bringing his playing career to an end? The Argentinian smiled: 'I don't know if surprised, I'm delighted. I think he needed to go into rugby. 'He has a good rugby brain, a very good rugby brain and I'm sure that he will have very good mentors there. He knows [Andy] Farrell, he knows a lot of the staff, and I'm sure that he will get the most out of that experience. 'I think Irish rugby has improved massively in the last 20 years. They have got a really good balance on developing young players and having the home talent. 'Obviously, they could have a few talents from abroad like Lowey [James Lowe], [Jamison] Gibson-Park and Bundee [Aki], they have bought into the Irish culture very well. I think Ireland has been doing the right things on and off the pitch.' Friday night's game poses a series of questions for the respective head coaches but it's one that Contepomi is happy to embrace. 'In in our case we haven't been together for seven months and getting together in two training sessions with a lot of new faces. It's been a challenge, but the guys have been magnificent. 'They made a lot of effort to grab all that new information. There was a good adaptation. We will see in the game, but we are very pleased with how they adapted to the first week in terms of the newcomers. 'In terms of preparing a game against a team that you don't know what they will fire [at us], for us it is very good because we need to focus on us. It's been good to really focus on what we want to do, how we want to do it, for them to start understanding the habits that we want to instil in our group.' ARGENTINA: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgró, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomás Albornoz, Gonzalo García; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi; Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo; Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo. Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi , Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simón Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero.
Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Sport
- Extra.ie
One Lions nation gets the jump as selection race heats up
The heat followed the British and Irish Lions squad back to Dublin as Andy Farrell's troops arrived back on Irish soil on Sunday after five days in the Algarve sun. The Lions spent last week training at the world-class, high-spec Campus sports facility in the plush surroundings of Quinta do Lago. It's been Ireland's port of call for many years now. Farrell felt it was the perfect setting to get this newly assembled playing group into the groove. There were plenty of gruelling pitch and gym sessions. A few cold beers in the sun, too. It's all part of the bonding process. Andy Farrell's troops arrived back on Irish soil on Sunday. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile The Leinster and Bath contingent were due to arrive on board on Monday. Fresh from their respective URC and English Premiership triumphs, the 14 arriving champions will need to hit the ground running the coming weeks. Because the crew which have been on duty since the first training camp in Dublin a fortnight ago have already got a bit of head stat in the race for Test spots. It was a point not lost on Johnny Sexton on Monday, the Lions assistant coach recalling when he rocked up for late for duty ahead of the 2013 tour Down Under because Leinster had just beaten Ulster in a league final. Johnny Sexton during a training session with the Lions on Monday. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile 'I remember coming into camp in 2013 after winning the whatever it was the time… the Pro14 was it? Might have been the Rabo (Direct Pro12)?,' he recalled. 'You come in, they've already had a couple of weeks of training and you feel like you're behind. You feel like you're chasing already. And then the guys that have been in camp will get a chance to play on Friday and put a marker down so those Leinster and Bath boys will be going wow, we're a little bit behind here. 'There's an advantage but also the environment Andy creates demands that the guys that have been here for a good week in Portugal fill the guys in, make sure they know what's going on and they'll be keen to get out on the pitch and make an impression as well because the players that have been here this week have really made an impression so far.' And that's a bit of a worry for the sizeable Irish contingent. There may be a record number of representatives (which has swelled to 16 since Finlay Bealham was called up) and a record number of Irish coaches on the backroom team, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Lions starting XV will be dominated by Irish players. Johnny Sexton playing with the Lions in 2013. Pic:Right now, it feels like a lot of the English personnel are in pole position to start the Test series against the Wallabies. Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman have all been on board since the start of this Lions project. All those mentioned above are primed to play prominent roles ahead of Friday's pre-tour clash with Argentina at Aviva Stadium. It's likely that a smattering of the Leinster players, as well as the other latecomers such as Finn Russell, Will Stuart and Ollie Chessum might see some bench duty in Dublin. Maro Itoje training with the Lions on Monday. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Otherwise, an English-heavy selection is likely to feature in the tour opener this week. A lot of these players have already had a few weeks in camp, soaking up all the detail, and a strong performance in game one will put them in a strong position when this squad's chartered flight lands in Perth early next week. Indeed, Opta has just released a stats-based starting XV based on data collated from this season and it features six England players (Genge, Stuart, Itoje, Earl, Fin Smith and Freeman) with five Irish starters (Dan Sheehan, Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe). Such a development would have shocked many pundits and fans just a few months ago. However, it was clear by the conclusion of the Six Nations that England were a team on the rise – spearheaded by young guns such as Pollock and Fin Smith – while Ireland were going through something of a dip. Northampton's storming Champions Cup semi-final win against Leinster in May merely cemented suspicions that this crop of English players could be set for a big summer with the Lions. Genge is the kind of player who could thrive on tour. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Genge is the kind of player who could thrive on tour. Andrew Porter is a powerful, durable and mobile loosehead prop with a serious engine but his English rival ticks all those boxes and is also an aggressive scrummager with a fiery side. The kind of a player who could get under Australian skins. The Bristol front-rower could have a big summer. No doubt, Farrell is a big fan. Ditto, Mitchell. Gibson-Park, who is recovering from injury, will be feeling the heat from the Northampton scrum-half. Mitchell can off the same high-tempo approach as his Leinster rival while his kicking game is also a real point of different. Freeman, meanwhile, looks to have the right wing slot virtually nailed down while Earl, the powerfu Saracens backrower, will be eyeing up the No8 spot now that Caelan Doris has been ruled out. Jack Conan will have plenty to say about that but Earl will back himself. Same goes for Curry and Pollock, who bring so much energy and physicality. Yes, the Leinster frontliners ended the season in storming fashion with that emphatic display against the Bulls at Croke Park. But past performance is no guarantee of future success and, staying on the financial theme, even though a lot of these Irish players have plenty of credit in the bank with Farrell, the Lions is a new venture. The slate has been wiped clean and the form players will make the cut for the Test series. Right now, it feels like a lot of those candidates are from the England camp. Crucially, those personnel have a head start on their Irish rivals. Even the Irish players who were in Portugal are facing a monumental fight to get into the series reckoning. Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, in particular, have no shortage of high-calibre rivals in their respective departments. It's going to be a fascinating few months. The race for Lions spots has begun, and it feels like England are out in front.
