Retired England fly-half Stuart Barnes has issued newly appointed British and Irish Lions assistant Johnny Sexton some sharp advice – to pick up the phone and call Finn Russell for a quick clear-the-air chat ahead of this summer’s tour to Australia.
Eyebrows were raised on Thursday when head coach Andy Farrell, Sexton’s former Ireland boss, named his retired No10 as an addition to the five-strong coaching ticket originally announced in London on March 26.
Scotland’s John Dalziel (Scotland), England’s Richard Wigglesworth and Irish trio Simon Easterby, John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman were all included on the staff for a tour that begins in Dublin versus Argentina on June 20 followed by nine matches in Australia – including the three-Test series against the Wallabies.
Plenty of angst aired
The naming of this quintet was generally well-received. However, the reaction to Sexton’s inclusion 22 days later has been very different with plenty of angst expressed about how the 39-year-old, who played his last match before retirement at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, still harbouring huge misgivings about how he wasn’t selected for the 2021 Lions tour.
Warren Gatland was the head coach for the last tour to South Africa, and he selected Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar and Finn Russell as his three out-halves. He then heaped further ignominy on Sexton by calling up then-rookie Marcus Smith mid-tour as injury cover.
The rejection festered and Sexton unloaded on Russell last year when he published his post-playing autobiography while at the same time eulogising about Owen Farrell and his influence when picked at No12.
“Who do you want in there when the going gets tough? Test-match animals,” he said, explaining his liking for Farrell before dismissing the merits of Russell’s 2021 Lions selection.
“Finn Russell was the darling of the media during that year’s Six Nations,” he wrote about 2021, dismissing Scotland’s fourth-place campaign as nothing achieved other than a final round success against a French team that “handed them the result” by “chasing a bonus point when the game was over”.
With Russell now amongst the leading contenders for out-half selection for the 2025 Lions tour, the naming of Sexton as an assistant coach could potentially cause friction unless he takes steps now to ensure there is no lasting issue between him and the Scotland No10, who has starred in Bath’s run to the top of this season’s Gallagher Premiership.
In his latest Times column, Barnes suggested that Sexton must change his perspective on things fast for the greater good of the 2025 tour. “It is less than two years since he [Sexton] retired and his coaching experience is limited, but he has been selected for his third Lions tour,” wrote Barnes.
“Anyone who has read his book, Obsessed, will know the hurt behind him missing out on the 2021 tour to South Africa. His selection as a coach is consolation, but it will take time before that scar heals over.”
Set to combine for the Lions
Barnes went on to suggest what needs to happen for Sexton to take the angst out of the situation that now has him named as an assistant coach of a squad that Russell is likely to be named in when it is announced on May 8.
“In 2021 Russell could have pointed to the difference in the Lions’ game plan against the Springboks when he came early off the bench to replace Dan Biggar. Sexton was displeased by his own omission from that tour and Russell appears to be the target of his irritable fury,” he wrote.
“All that is done now. Sexton has to see things from a distance. When a player retires, you can think you know everything, especially if you were a fly-half. Being in the thick of the action, sharing scraps, tactics and good times, is to be the ultimate insider. To gravitate to another role requires a different perspective.
“Owen Farrell is no longer what Sexton remembers from those Lion tours in 2013 and 2017. And Finn Russell is not the magical yet erratic trickster of his earlier years. In a Premiership that dazzles with attacking intention, it is the Scot’s grounded experience, his excellence and his self-belief that make him the right man to direct the Lions from No10.
“It is Sexton and not Russell who will one day be recalled as the surprise selection. A quick call to Russell from Sexton, explaining how these disparaging quotes are all the work of the dastardly media — now that wouldn’t be the worst-ever idea.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ex-england-fly-half-tells-the-scarred-johnny-sexton-how-to-resolve-his-irritable-fury-with-finn-russell
