Sexton out to engineer success

Gavin Cummiskey talks to Cork captain Eoin Sexton ahead of the Munster final

Cork captain Eoin Sexton was the centre of attention on Baggot Street yesterday. As RTÉ sports editor Tony O'Donoghue interviewed him outside the Bank of Ireland, several suits were strolling back from lunch.

"Will we ask for his autograph?" quipped one banker.

Little did they realise the 29-year-old engineer is just like them - albeit in a Clark Kent sort of way. Still, this was an unexpected exposure to the media glare as Sexton was only parachuted into the hot seat after regular captain Seán Levis lost the full-back slot to Graham Canty. Like everyone else though, he only discovered on Tuesday evening he would lead Cork against Kerry at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Sunday.

Before he could think it all through he was sitting beside Kerry captain Declan O'Sullivan in Dublin with print, radio and television journalists hanging on his every word. Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh held court.

Intimidating stuff for some but Sexton handled it with a composure regularly missing from professional sportsmen, never mind a guy who had to fly back to Littleisland later that afternoon to ensure the bread got buttered at Cognis Ireland.

"While I don't get to have lie-ins they are very good to me," he said of his employers. "If I have to get away early for a match there is absolutely no problem."

How does the captaincy sit with him?

"Did you make a speech there and then?" asked Ó Muircheartaigh.

"(Laughing) No, I'm not much of a speech maker."

We don't believe him. Since making his debut in 1997, against Clare, Sexton has twice been to war with Kerry in Munster finals. Throw in the International Rules experience of 2000 and this wing back has been around the block. We reckon some choice pre-match words will depart his lips, especially considering seven team-mates are playing their first Munster final.

He contests the theory that Cork were abysmal last year, instead pointing to the heroics of Fermanagh.

"They took a lot more scalps than just Cork so maybe things weren't as bad as made out."

Plenty has changed since that experience as manager Billy Morgan embraced the future. Out went old training techniques and even older players. In came the fruits of recent minor and under-21 teams.

"I suppose, from the players' point of view, we have probably got more professional as a group. We've tried to do everything management have asked us. Last year would have been the same, as they put everything in place for us. I suppose the fact is everyone has just bought into the same training regime, which was great," says Sexton.

One significant change was the arrival of UCD high-performance director Lisa Regan to improve team conditioning.

"This was one of the things that got a little more professional. We also did work on it last year but because someone wasn't supervising us all the time a lot of our techniques weren't great. So, a lot of people were getting into bad habits when lifting weights or doing short sprints.

"A couple of years ago it was a case of you train as hard as you can whenever you can, whereas now rest and recovery is a huge part of training.

"I suppose last year was Billy's first year, we were getting to know him and he was getting to know us. Change of management always takes a bit of time."

Then he stops and realises another manager made his debut in 2004. "It was Jack O'Connor's first year so that fairly disproved that theory, but anyway."

You ask him about the future and he looks at you with incredulity: there is no future past Sunday. He knows what can potentially happen if the game plan veers off course. In the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final Kerry ripped them asunder to nullify the earlier victory in the Munster final replay.

"Our own memories are of getting decimated in Croke Park by an outstanding Kerry performance, really, and the emergence of the Gooch (Colm Cooper). It was like they had 20 on the pitch, they just completely overran us.

"We've only played one championship game. It might be a bit early to be making assessments. Sunday definitely will be a huge test for us."