BRIAN O’DRISCOLL HAS admitted that the IRFU could give their 2015 Rugby World Cup ambitions a major boost by buying out the second year of Jonny Sexton’s contract at Racing Métro.
When directly questioned on the topic, Ireland’s outside centre was swift to underline that he did not intend to undermine the Top 14 club’s position, but pointed out that if Sexton were to return to Ireland it would be an obvious boost to the national team.
“I don’t want to talk out of turn where Jonny is contracted to Racing, and I think it would be disrespectful to them to say there we’re looking at taking him away from them,” O’Driscoll said at Carton House this afternoon.
“I think everyone is in agreement that we didn’t want to see him go, and if a situation arose where he did come back, and some agreement was made, well I don’t see that possibly being a negative.
I know that he’d be welcomed back into the fold from a provincial point of view and I’m sure the national management would like to be able to control his game time a little bit more than they currently can.
“So I suppose it’s one just to wait out and we’ll see what happens.”
Clearly, there would be a huge cost in the IRFU making such a move, and the fact that Sexton himself has spoken about his determination to be a success at Racing further contradicts the idea.
Ireland are hopeful the 28-year-old will take part in training this week as his recovery from a thumb injury continues. News of Sexton’s appointment with a specialist consultant is expected tomorrow.
What do you think? Should the IRFU go all out to get Sexton back in Ireland a year early?
