Why Jonny Sexton Will Be the Key Man for Ireland at the 2015 World Cup

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 1, 2015

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Ireland secured their second successive Six Nations title in March and go forth to the World Cup with a genuine chance of making the semi-finals for the first time.

The Irish are in a group with France, Italy, Canada and Romania, having avoided the big guns from the Southern Hemisphere, as well as swerving the kind of misfortune that has landed England, Wales and Australia in the same pool.

If the Irish win their section, an outcome that will hinge on their clash with Les Bleus, they are likely to face Argentina, who are favourites to finish runners up to New Zealand in Pool C, in the last eight.

A route to the semi-finals has never looked so passable when you consider they had to beat Australia to win their group in 2011 and ended up losing to Wales in the next round.

Joe Schmidt has built a team able to play more than one way, as we saw in the Six Nations. Against France, England and Wales they relied on a kick-and-chase style that demands accuracy and little consideration for putting the ball through hands.

But when they needed to score heavily against the Scots, they switched tack and opened the taps on a back line that can cause huge damage, with forwards running off shoulders and busting holes, sending defences into disarray.

The key to this adaptability is undoubtedly their fly-half Johnny Sexton.

The man who plies his trade for Racing Metro could yet end 2015 with a clean sweep of Six Nations, the French domestic title, European Champions Cup success and the World Cup. It’s an outlandish thought, but Sexton can be an outlandish talent.

Emerging from the shadow of Ronan O’Gara post 2009, the Leinsterman took Irish fly-half play to a new dimension with his silky handling and ability to orchestrate a mesmeric Leinster backline that was largely replicated at the international level.



He was outstanding as Leinster swept to the Heineken C...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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