Johnny Sexton will take a complete break from rugby when he retires after the autumn’s World Cup, leaving him just two more Six Nations matches.
The Ireland captain and talisman could yet lead Andy Farrell’s men to a fourth Grand Slam in the nation’s history in what would prove a fairytale finale, for this competition at least.
The 37-year-old could be forgiven for fixating on the scale of that challenge, but ahead of this make-or-break trip to Scotland, the Lions fly-half remains unmoved.
Performance coach Gary Keegan has brought a new purpose and calm to Ireland’s squad, and the world’s No1 ranked Test team can beat Scotland and England for a second Grand Slam in five years.
“Pressure has been there for the last 10, 15 years, this is good pressure,” said Sexton. “You’ve got one shot, you want to do well. But it’s about the team, building and trying to do something we set out to do.
“The good thing about this group is that we’ve had big games before that we haven’t won, and we’ve had big games as well that we have won. We know what it takes.”
Sports psychologist Keegan excelled with Ireland’s boxing set-up, before repeating the feat with the wildly-successful Dublin Gaelic football team. Sexton first encountered Keegan at Leinster, before Farrell drew him into the Ireland camp.
“He’s been great for a lot of individuals, his record speaks for itself,” said Sexton. “He tends to have success wherever he goes, so hopefully he can bring a little bit of it to us as well.
“Often the talks you have with him, those things actually come to life at the weekend. I don’t think we would be where we are without him.”
Sexton steered an Ireland side captained by Rory Best to Grand Slam glory in 2018, while Brian O’Driscoll skippered the 2009 vintage. The great Jack Kyle spearheaded the only other championship clean sweep, all the way back in 1948.
Leinster stalwart Sexton would give almost anything to cement his captaincy in Irish annals with another Grand Slam, and head coach Farrell’s side are not shying away from reality.
“It’s about embracing this, but realising it’s not always like this as well,” said Sexton. “We don’t consider ourselves favourites, we think it’s going to be an incredibly tough game. They’re definitely the best Scottish team we’ve played against.”
Stuart Hogg will become Scotland’s fourth man to win 100 caps this weekend, in a Test career dating all the way back to 2012. The Exeter full-back and form fly-half Finn Russell epitomise the best of Scotland’s attacking swagger.
But Gregor Townsend’s men must be at their very best to stand a chance of toppling Ireland’s green machine.
