Leinster back injured Sexton to make Lions
Conan hits peak at right time
BRITISH and Irish Lions assistant coach Robin McBryde believes Johnny Sexton remains firmly in contention for the looming tour of South Africa despite the Ireland captain’s latest injury setback. Sexton has been ruled out of Leinster’s crunch European Champions Cup semi-final clash with La Rochelle on
Sunday as the veteran outhalf continues to follow the return-to-play protocols after he suffered a head injury in the quarter-final victory against Exeter earlier this month. The 35-year-old is being carefully managed by the province after he sustained head knocks on Ireland and Leinster duty in recent months. Warren Gatland is set to name his Lions squad on Thursday week, meaning Sexton has lost his last chance to impress ahead of next week’s announcement. But McBryde, who will be part of Gatland’s backroom team in South Africa this summer, thinks Sexton — who toured with the Lions in 2013 and 2017 — has enough credit in the bank. ‘I think he’s got enough time and he’s got enough experience,’ said the Leinster scrum coach. ‘I think he proved that in the Six Nations, especially in that
ON Thursday week, Warren Gatland is set to announce a squad of 36 players to take on the Springboks this summer. The forthcoming British and Irish Lions tour won’t be anything like the epic expeditions in 1997 or 2009, for many different reasons. Getting the whole thing off the ground in the first place in the midst of this global pandemic will be an achievement in itself.
Still, it hasn’t stopped pundits, ex-players and punters having a crack at naming their squads. There is a long history of bolters on Lions tours. A left-field selection, an untested rookie or a forgotten talent who has hit a rich vein of form. John Bentley was the candidate in ’97; Keith Earls in 2009.
Many have tipped Jack Conan to make the flight to Cape Town at the end of June. The Leinster No8 has been imperious in recent months. After years of injury and form issues, the Bray native is finally showing his potential and, crucially, he is backing it up in big games every week.
Understandably, he has been trying to dial down the Lions hype recently.
‘It is not something I am worried about or thinking too much about. At the end of the day it’d be fantastic to go but I am not holding my breath,’ he said.
‘It is not something I am losing too much sleep over. I am just worried about Leinster and the next game.
‘It is difficult enough to get into that Leinster backrow so that is the only place my thoughts are going to at the moment.’
On the surface, those quotes seem like your trademark straight bat to a typical line of questioning by the media. Conan has had too many setbacks and disappointments in his career to get carried away, however.
The Lions was the furthest thing from his mind four years ago. Trying to put a meaningful run of games together was his only concern back then. Peter O’Mahony, Seán O’Brien and CJ Stander got the call from Gatland to tour New Zealand back in 2017. It opened the door for Conan to secure a spot on Ireland’s summer tour of the US and Japan. Having made his Ireland debut in a World Cup warm-up in September 2015, he would board the flight to New York with just two caps to his name. It said everything about the many setbacks he had to endure.
He seemed to have put all that behind him. Conan kicked on after an impressive summer in 2017 and put together a consistent run of games. Joe Schmidt soon came calling. Having missed the cut in 2015, Conan stormed back into contention ahead of the 2019 World Cup in Japan. An impressive cameo off the bench in the opening weekend hammering of the Scots paved the way for a start against the tournament hosts six days later. Conan was pencilled in to start at No8 against Japan. His whole season, his whole career really, had been leading up to his moment. He had even foregone surgery on a troublesome foot injury to make the tournament. Then, bad luck struck again. A teammate stood on his foot in training and Conan was ruled out of showdown in Shizuoka. His ball-carrying ballast was sorely missed in that infamous second half when the weary visitors — wilting in the humidity –— ran into a brick wall of Japanese defenders at every turn.
It would get even worse. Not only was his tournament over but seemingly his whole season. Six months was the prognosis on his foot fracture. A neck injury was the next ailment which hindered his progress. He was starting to become rugby’s version of Sisyphus at this stage. In his absence, Caelan Doris had made the No8 jersey his own at Leinster and the youngster was looking the part at international level under Andy Farrell’s watch.
Like ships in the night, Doris was forced to miss the Six Nations due to a worrying issue with concussion symptoms while Conan emerged back on the scene. His appearance off the bench against Italy in Rome was his first time back in an Ireland shirt in 17 months.
Then came his tour de force against England on the day he won his 20th cap.
It seems a measly return for a player of his talents. You get the feeling he is making up for lost time at the moment.
Gatland will have taken note of the way he rampaged through English defenders throughout that demolition in Dublin.
Conan followed that up with big shifts against Munster in the Pro14 final and away to Exeter in a European quarter-final.
He may not have the caps and experience to match the likes of Taulupe Faletau and Billy Vunipola, but is there a No8 across Ireland and Britain who is playing better at the moment?
Another blockbusting performance against La Rochelle’s giant pack on Sunday and Gatland will be hard-pressed to leave Conan out of his plans, especially after the latest injury setback for Doris last week. The Lions boss knows he needs heavy-duty forwards to take on the might of the Springboks pack this summer.
And Conan is primed to peak for this tour. He will turn 29 on July 29 – just three days before the second Test in Cape Town.
You wouldn’t bet against him being in amongst it by then.
Conan’s time has come.
‘It is not something I’m losing sleep over’