Sexton, will go to France

Jonny Sexton has decided to continue his career on French soil with the financially, well-endowed club, Racing Metro.

The Leinster out half won three European Champion medals with the club over the last four years and has enjoyed the nurturing of Brian O’Driscol and Isaac Boss either side of him.

Following an outstanding performance for St. Marys’ College Dublin in the final of the Leinster Cup, Sexton was head hunted and offered a contract with the province making his debut against Border Reivers in 2006. The Dubliner has since gone on to be spoken of in the same category as the All Black great Dan Carter.

A number of weeks ago rumors started hitting twitter about a proposed deal involving Dan Carter coming to Racing Metro, and now that the French side has sealed Sexton it shows the regard in which the Irishman is held.

Sexton will finish out the season with Leinster and begin playing in France in August. He will still represent Ireland at international level and is the favorite in line to take up the ‘10 shirt’ on the Lions tour to Australia this summer.

Disappointed;

Philip Browne, IRFU Chief Executive, said: "We are very disappointed, as we know the Irish rugby public will be, that Jonathan Sexton will not be playing his rugby full-time in Ireland from next season.”

"Johnny is a major talent and his full-time presence in Ireland will be missed, particularly by Leinster.”

While Mr. Browne did say they “Remained in the fight right up until the last possible moment,” the IRFU where outmuscled financially by the French Club.

Exceptional;

Leinster Head Coach Joe Schmidt also expressed his sorrow at Jonnys’ departure but was amazed by the offer laid before him by Racing Metro.

"The offer he has received is exceptional, even by French standards, but I know that it was still a tough decision for him."

Gone but not forgotten;

The management of the IRFU fully intends to continue developing Jonny as an Irish international player.

"While Johnny has made the decision to move on to a new club, the IRFU is fully committed to maintaining its program of nurturing and retaining Irish rugby talent.”

"We feel that the benefits of the careful and considered management of those players will allow us to maintain this policy."

"Though we have been largely successful in keeping as many Irish players as possible playing full time in Ireland, we have always recognised that some of our players will be targeted by overseas clubs with offers which are not within our orbit.”

"We wish Johnny continued success with his career and he will receive all the support he needs over the next number of weeks in what we know was a very difficult decision for him.

Jonathan Sextons' rumor of a move to France; Would it be so bad?

Jonathan Sexton

Twitter is alive with the rumor that French side Racing Metro is head hunting Irish Out-Half Jonathon Sexton.

The Leinster man has been Declan Kidneys’ first choice since the Autumn Internationals of 2009 where he kicked Irelands’ way to a 15-10 win against, the then world champions, South Africa.

A move to France would be a great blow to the Dubliners, and teammate Eoin Reddan has expressed his desire for Sexton to stay.

If he does leave, Sexton is unlikely to loose his place on the Ireland squad.

If you are and Irish rugby fane, but do not support Leinster, you may be thinking in terms of the future of the International team.

It would be preferable for Sexton to take the place off a young French out half, than an Irishman. Right now, Noel Reid could be growing in experience, getting game time and showing the potential of a future international player.

Sexton doesn’t need to be trained up any more; he has his position at Lansdowne Road. Second in command is the legend that is Ronan O’Gara, and he doesn’t have much time left on his hands.

Ireland is in a good situation with having both of these world-class players to choose from, but when O’Gara is no longer an option, someone else needs to step up.

At the moment the only person to do this is Ulster’s Paddy Jackson.

If you’re an Ulster, Munster or Connacht supporter, you’ll want another choice to be coming through the ranks for the next generation of Ireland Internationals, rather than the position being filled by a player already established in the role.

It will be a great opportunity for two Irish youngsters wanting to develop, rather than sitting on the bench or the reserve team, getting out there and playing some rugby.

Rugby midfield attacking options

Dan Carter

What are some new exciting ideas for midfield attack in open play and off set rugby? Recently, I’ve been talking to Farnham RUFCs’ Director of Rugby Barry Warner to try and get an insight into what he’s been thinking in shaping a team that has only lost once since December 2011.

Rather than having the traditional crash ball off Out-Half in the Centre that every team will expect, there are other options that can give players the opportunity to attack the line unmarked.

Inside and outside Centre are normally the big strong battering rams designed to hit the opposition hard and punch holes in the defence, a bit like a medieval army storming the neighbouring castle with a massive tree trunk. And to a certain extent this needs to continue.

Wings are traditionally the small, nimble and lightning fast backs who are given the ball to simply run the length of the pitch. Think of people like Shane Williams who rivals Jonah Lumo as the greatest wing in the history of the game. 

In the 90’s, along came All Black Jonah Lumo to blow this idea out of the water. A winger who filled in at back row in the scrum was just unheard off in those days, as now you have the likes of Andrew Trimble and Chris Ashton who get much more involved in the game due to their sheer size and strength.

Barry has devised a game plan for Farnham that continues on from international success in various backlines. “Why not get the wings to do the crash ball instead of the centres?” he told me.

Here is a diagram of a typical back line set up. The idea is that the blind side winger is no use to anyone in attack just standing out on his own. Barry gave me the lowdown on how he wants his wingers to perform. “The backline works in triangles, you have out-half (10) inside centre (12) running in depth, and blind side winger (11) being the tip of the triangle. Another shape is formed using the inside and outside centre (13), the tip of the triangle being formed by the full back (15).

This gives the ball carrier options both side-on and at depth. Inside centre draws in his opposite number, taking him out of the game, before offloading to blind side wing that is unmarked and will have space to run. This move can also be performed by outside centre and full back.

Playing in this formation also allows the ball carrier, weather that be 10, 12 or 13 to make decisions based on the options both inside and outside them depending on the gaps in front of them.

END OF YEAR TOUR 2012: HIGHLIGHTS