Scotland assistant coach Pete Horne says the key to minimising the threat posed by Ireland’s Johnny Sexton during Saturday’s do-or-die World Cup Pool B showdown in Paris is to not focus too much on the veteran playmaker.
“You’ve got to admire him,” said Horne, who celebrates his 34th birthday today, which makes him four years younger than Sexton. “What a character and what a competitor. It’s unbelievable what he’s doing at his age.
“He’ll be absolutely gunning for it and I’m sure it’ll mean a lot to him this weekend. He’s one of the best players in the world.
“But we don’t need to stress too much about what he’s going to do and start flying up at him because he’s such a good player that he can pick holes around you if you do that.
“We’ve got our defensive plans in place. We’re ready for the threats Ireland will pose. But, yeah, with Sexton, it’s awesome what he’s doing at his age.”
Horne added that while Scotland’s own talismanic stand-off, Finn Russell, is widely regarded as a very different sort of character and player to Sexton, the two playmakers actually have an awful lot in common.
“The obvious one is that, on the surface, Finn looks a lot more relaxed as a character, while Sexton is very organised, but like Sexton, Finn’s a really fierce competitor as well,” he explained.
“They both have unbelievable minds for the game. The way they see it, they’re just a step ahead of everyone else on the field.
“They’re not as dissimilar as how it maybe looks. It’ll be a great battle between two of the best players in the world on Saturday.”
