Johnny Sexton on the lure of the Lions

Irish Times

17-06-2025

While Armagh, Meath, Monaghan and Tyrone put their feet up for a fortnight, all of them already through to the quarter-finals of the football championship,
we now know who's facing who in the battle to join them
: Dublin v Cork, Donegal v Louth, Down v Galway and Kerry v Cavan.
Conor McManus puts his ranking cap on
to share his thoughts on who's best placed to advance, and whose hopes of spending the year in the company of Sam Maguire are the strongest. Cavan? Look away now.
Malachy Clerkin, meanwhile, looks back at The Weekend That Was in football and picks out what
lessons the survivors in the championship can learn
from Roscommon, Mayo, Clare and Derry, 'the first teams to be kicked out onto the street'.
In rugby, Gerry Thornley was at the Lions' training base in UCD on Monday, where they're fine-tuning their preparations for Friday's game against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium.
He heard Johnny Sexton talk about how the persuasive powers of Andy Farrell lured him back
in to, first, the Irish set-up and, now, the Lions' coaching ticket. Johnny Watterson was in Belfield too where
Ben Earl spoke with the media
, the Saracens man insisting he brings no animosity from 'an often-fiery Six Nations' in to the Lions camp.
Gerry also looks back on Leinster's season,
dismissing that notion that they're 'chokers'
. 'They won one of only two trophies on offer and reached the semi-final of the other ... with any other club, region or province, that would be considered a successful season. Anyone other than Leinster.'
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Owen Doyle doffs his cap too to Leinster's URC success, but his chief focus in today's column is
referees being subjected to 'interrogations' by players
'constantly appealing' their decisions. 'It is clear that match officials have overdone their desire to be seen as the players' understanding friend. That approach is now backfiring,' he writes.
In golf, Philip Reid reflects on a remarkable US Open where
JJ Spaun somehow survived five early bogeys in his final round
to win his first major. The company that make the putter used by Spaun to sink that 65 feet putter on the 18th on Sunday will have been especially chuffed with his success, sales of
the L.A.B. Golf DF3 putter
no doubt soaring.
And in racing, Brian O'Connor previews Royal Ascot which starts today,
Irish jockey Colin Keane 'firmly in the spotlight'
after his appointment as number one in Europe to the Juddmonte organisation. Keane, says Brian, is 'a cool customer', but while 'pressure might indeed be a privilege in elite sport, it can quickly become a burden too'.
TV Watch:
Royal Ascot gets under way today, but you'll be worn out from the channel-hopping if you want to follow it all - it'll be spread across UTV, ITV4, Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Two between 1.30 and 6.30. It's a bit more straightforward for hockey fans wishing to see Ireland take on Australia in the men's Pro League - the game is on the TG4 Player at 2.30pm.