Johnny Sexton
Club: Leinster
Position: Outhalf
Age: 36
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 90kgs (14st 2lbs)
Leinster appearances: 182
Points: 1594
Why he’s so important? The attacking fulcrum for both his province and country, he carried that mantle for many years, but in recent times has been able to allocate a little of that workload to team-mates. He still plays a pivotal role, provides leadership by dint of actions as well as his words, and when he’s at his brilliant best Leinster are unplayable. His aptitude to thrive on the big occasions underlines his temperament and consummate talent. He’s always a target physically and is at times too brave and courageous but that won’t change now. He needs to kick points and run the game with that clear-eyed focus.
Trivia: The tongue-in-cheek joke is that he might like to officially take up refereeing when he retires as a player, given the occasional advice he offers to officials during matches. He has already made plans when he calls time on his career after the 2023 World Cup in France. He will join the Ardagh Group in Leopardstown, for whom he currently works one day a week.
Ihaia West
Club: La Rochelle
Position: Outhalf
Age: 30
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
La Rochelle appearances: 91
Points: 861
Why he’s so important? The first-choice outhalf, he has started 20 of 21 appearances for his team this season, playing the full match on 16 occasions. He has scored 232 points (five tries) at an average of 11 per game and a great deal of La Rochelle’s territory-orientated game revolves around his kicking from hand. His place-kicking can occasionally be flaky, he missed three from the tee in the semi-final against Racing and earlier this year he couldn’t land a late chance to win a match against Castres in the Top 14. He tends to hover behind his team’s big ball carriers, ready to pounce and shift the ball to the edges.
Trivia: New Zealander West is a former team-mate of Leinster wing James Lowe, the two having played for the Maori All Blacks against the British & Irish Lions in 2017. Indeed West scored a match-winning try for the Blues – he also kicked the conversion in a 22-16 success against Warren Gatland’s tourists. Last December he signed a three-year contract to join Toulon during the summer.
