With Johnny Sexton contracted to Racing Métro until next summer, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has said it's crucially important to have his playmakers available at every opportunity in pre-World Cup training camps.
Sexton, currently with Racing Métro in the French Top 14, will return to his home province next season and, with an IRFU contract, will be available for all training camps and matches, something which has not been possible for the last year with the French side paying his wages.
“I think Johnny said himself, it’s great if he can get back and be involved in camps,” Schmidt told RTÉ Sport.
“Obviously, he wasn’t in [the latest] camp, not that we did a massive amount in August because it is very much provincial focused at this stage but to have someone who’s so pivotal to running a game like Paddy [Jackson] and Ian Madigan and Ian Keatley [is vital].
“Those guys, they’re the ones that really are conductors of the orchestra when they are on the pitch.
“For those guys to be present at training camps is really important and Johnny, obviously, started throughout last year’s Six Nations and started the two games in the summer [in Argentina].”
"I think it’s the biggest 12 months for a group of us in our rugby lives because [the World Cup] is the pinnacle" - Joe Schmidt
Asked about the contract negotiations that paved the way for the return of Sexton to Leinster, who is currently sidelined with a broken jaw, the New Zealander said that IRFU performance director David Nucifora was more involved than Schmidt himself.
He said: “David Nucifora, part of his role is to be involved in contracting and I think that the IRFU, before David arrived, had already laid the platform for those negotiations to take place and David Nucifora finished them off.
“I think he finished them off pretty well because Johnny’s coming back.”
Ireland are in Pool D for the World Cup, where they will face France, Italy, Canada and Romania.
The former Clermont coach admitted that Ireland now face into a huge year.
“I think it’s the biggest 12 months for a group of us in our rugby lives because [the World Cup] is the pinnacle but trying to get to that there’s a few base camps along the way that are really important to us,” he said.
“I would tend to be short-term focused but yeah, we’d love to get to the peak.
“We’re certainly going to try. Our sleeves will be rolled up and I think the players are really working hard.”
