JohnnySexton

Jonathan Sexton will bring a wealth of big-match experience to The British & Irish Lions after earning a call-up for his second Tour by Warren Gatland to take on the All Blacks.

First capped in 2009, Ireland fly-half Sexton spent the early part of his international career battling for the starting jersey with three-time Lion Ronan O’Gara.

The spearhead of Leinster’s three European Champions Cup winning sides, Sexton moved to France to play for Racing 92 for a couple of seasons in 2013.

That followed his first Lions Tour in 2013 when he started all three Tests in Australia as Gatland’s side claimed a 2-1 series victory. He played every minute of the first two Tests, and only came off in the final 17 minutes of the third with the result already beyond doubt.

By that time he had already scored a crucial try just before the hour as the Lions cut loose in the record 41-16 success.

He returned from the Tour to help Ireland to back-to-back RBS 6 Nations titles in 2014 and 2015, scoring four tries to finish as the joint top try-scorer in the former.

At club level he returned to Leinster in 2016, while he was also part of the Ireland team that beat New Zealand for the first time ever in the same year, in Chicago.

In 2017 Sexton missed the start of the RBS 6 Nations with injury but returned to lead Ireland past France in Dublin, scoring 14 points including a second-half drop goal.

Ireland’s Championship hopes were ended with defeat to Wales in Round Four but Sexton again pulled the strings to see them to a 13-9 win over champions England in the final game to deny the Red Rose a second successive Grand Slam.

Sexton followed that up with more impressive displays in a Leinster shirt to cement his place in Gatland’s squad to New Zealand.