Lady boys, chokers, soft touches… Leinster were called many things before Michael Cheika came along and transformed the province.
He won the Heineken Cup in 2009 and, by the time he handed over to Joe Schmidt in 2010 they were one of Europe’s best teams, boasting some of the the best young talent around. The likes of Cian Healy, Rob Kearney and Johnny Sexton would be the foundations upon which the current Ireland coach’s back-to-back Heineken Cups were built in 2011-12.
Yesterday Sexton opened up on what exactly made the Australian such an influential and transformative figure in the province’s history.
“Because everyone’s probably scared shitless of him, if I was being honest. He knows his rugby as well, he’s a very clever guy, but he does have that presence where he’s a pretty scary guy when you get on the wrong side of him.”
Still, the 48 is looking pretty pleased with himself these days. His Australia side have eliminated hosts and bitter rivals England and have added setpiece solidity to their traditional attacking verve – a combination that makes them many people’s favourites to win the World Cup.
Plus, they beat England. Look at that smile!
Don’t know what Sexton is on about.
