Schools:Kildare Place School and then St Mary's, both in Rathmines. Sport:Rugby. Other school sports:Besides rugby, soccer and golf would have been my main sports. I was always big in to soccer and played it when I was in KPS and then played a lot of golf in the summer.
Who got you started?There really wasn't just one person, there were loads to thank for getting me into sport. My Dad (Jerry) was big into rugby and I would have spent a lot of time with him down at Bective Rangers where he played. My uncle (Willie) played for Ireland, so that was a big inspiration too. The golf comes from my Mum's side, so it was an all-round sporting family, I was influenced by them all.
The Best of Days:Winning cups! Even now winning the under-13 cup with St Mary's is a special and fond memory, as is winning the Leinster Senior Cup in 2002. I was only 16 then, the only fourth year on the team, so maybe I was too young to appreciate it as much as I could have, but it was a fantastic and special day.
The Worst of Days:Even now it still grates . . . losing to Blackrock in the first round of the Leinster Senior Cup two years later, when I was captain – and we threw away a big lead too. It was billed as the final, even though it was only the opening round. It was a big honour to captain the team, but the defeat is still a painful memory.
Most inspiring sporting memory:There's no particular single memory, I suppose as a big soccer fan watching Manchester United win trophy after trophy over the years is up there with the best. My earliest memory would have been watching Italia '90 down in a pub in Listowel, the Italian game and beating Romania on penalties, of course, stand out. Great days.
I wished I was:In soccer it would have been Roy Keane when I was growing up, in rugby when I was around 14 or 15 Ronan O'Gara would have been breaking into the Irish team, so he and David Humphreys, the fly-halves, were the people I looked up to.
From golf:definitely Padraig Harrington.
If I could turn back time:I've only been professional the last two or three years but I feel I wasted a lot of time in school not working on physical development, like doing weights. That was my own fault, and to some extent I'm still catching up. Come summer I tended just to play golf, rather than keeping working on physical development. But that's all, really I have no regrets, I wouldn't change anything.
The value of school sport to you:More than anything it's the friendships that you build along the way. St Mary's is a relatively small school but has had unbelievable success over the years, and much of that was built on team spirit. As team-mates you go through so much together, highs and lows, and they're the kind of friendships that tend to last forever.
Most Admired:It would have to be Padraig Harrington. I always admired him anyway, particularly for the way he turned his career around and started winning majors, but I have even more respect for him after he came in and spoke to the Irish squad a couple of weeks ago. Even though we're professionals too it was just inspiring, and it clearly was no burden to him to come in and do it.
Not Too Keen:I don't hate anybody!
One sporting wish:To play a lot of times for Ireland and to win the Heineken Cup with Leinster, with me starting in the team. If I had to pick one . . . I couldn't. Can I have two wishes?
Jonathan Sexton is the 23-year-old Leinster outhalf who was named in Ireland’s preliminary 39-man squad for the Six Nations Championship.
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