Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton has credited former teammates Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara and Paul O’Connell for their roles in helping bring along a number of players in this current side.
Ireland won their third Six Nations title in the last five years with a 28-8 bonus point win over Scotland on Saturday and were awarded the championship after England tripped up in Paris with a 22-16 loss to France.
Rory Best and Rob Kearney were the only members of the current side to feature for Ireland during the 2009 Six Nations when Ireland won their last Grand Slam.
Sexton was an unused squad member during that famous run but still credits O’Connell, O’Gara and O’Driscoll as key figures in Ireland’s transition from a side that won Triple Crowns last decade to a side that are now winning the Six Nations on a near bi-annual basis.
“I remember that Declan Kidney said that I was just as much as part of it as everyone else,” said Sexton.
“Back in 2009 I wouldn’t have been, it definitely didn’t feel that way, but I remember some of the talks that were made around that time from the O’Connell’s, the O’Driscoll’s and the O’Gara’s.
“Guys that had been playing for 10 years and you could tell by their speeches and their actions through that time that there was a sea change for them.
“They had to drag along guys like Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney and these young guys coming through and I think it’s very similar to that now.
“Even a guy like Rory [Best] feels that it will be even harder now [winning the Grand Slam] than what it was back then so for us it’s about trying to drag those young lads along.
“They probably think they’re going to get loads of opportunities, but as I know, it doesn’t always work out like that.”
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt highlighted the contributions of a number of those young players with second-row James Ryan the first player that came to mind when he was asked who had impressed him most in the win over Scotland.
“There were a couple of players who worked incredibly hard,” said Schmidt.
“James Ryan was immense again. I think he had 13 tackles and 13 ball carries (15 according to ESPNscrum). CJ Stander had 12 tackles and 12 ball carries, Garry Ringrose had 90 running metres and 11 tackles; covered the ground incredibly well for a guy that’s probably not up to full fitness yet but I thought he was super.”
