Johnny Sexton says he always expected to return to rugby, even if his acceleration to a full-time coaching role has arrived earlier than expected.
The former Ireland captain retired from playing after the 2023 World Cup, and moved into the business world, working with a sustainable packaging company, but has now gone back into rugby on a full-time basis.
He dipped his toe into coaching in November of last year when he was approached by Andy Farrell to link up with the Ireland squad in a part-time gig, working as a kicking coach, which he will now do full-time from August after his commitments with the British and Irish Lions.
"That's why I decided to go into it, because I loved it," he said, of his new roles with the Lions and Ireland.
"I loved being back in an environment where I was comfortable.
"I've spent a lot of time in rugby and felt I had a bit to give back to those number tens, and the leadership group, trying to help them out."
The 39-year-old (below) says while he enjoyed his time out of the game, he "jumped" at the opportunity to return to rugby full-time, having got a taste of coaching in recent months.
"It was really enjoyable and then obviously got the phonecall from Faz [Farrell] to do both roles and it would obviously have to be full-time and I jumped at it.
"It's something I kind of always wanted to get into deep down and the reason I didn’t was I didn’t really want to coach lads I’d played with, so that break was good for me, albeit that it was only for a full year.
"The other reason was because I’m not a guy who wants to go and travel, go to France, go to New Zealand, a bit like [Ronan] O’Gara has done.
"I don’t want to do that. I want to be in Ireland but I’ve got to concentrate on the here and now. That’s ultimately how I made the decision, I’ve got to make myself happy here and now, and not worry about the future. If it’s only for two years, it’s only for two years.
"It [working outside rugby] was a great experience for me. I learned a lot, I threw myself into it, I was in it for the long haul in my own mind. Maybe I was tricking myself, I’m not sure."
The former Ireland and Leinster out-half is part of a Lions group that is drawn heavily from Irish rugby.
As well as a record 16 Irish players in the squad, the coaching staff is largely drawn from the Irish set-up, with Farrell and Sexton joined by Ireland’s defence coach Simon Easterby, attack coach Andrew Goodman and scrum coach John Fogarty, as well as former IRFU performance director David Nucifora.
Additionally, the staff behind the scenes also contain several of Farrell’s lieutenants from the IRFU, including video analyst Vinny Hammond, head of athletic performance Aled Walters, while performance coach Gary Keegan is the latest to have been drafted in.
But Sexton believes all those who have been brought on tour have been called in on merit.
"Ireland have done pretty well over the last few years I think, having won the Championship last year, the Grand Slam the year before. So you’re probably looking at form over the last three years.
"With some players, I think the coaches probably look at form over seven, eight, nine years. It’s not just if you played well in a couple of games in the Six Nations. You can force your way in, but sometimes you take a bigger picture look with players and obviously they know the way Andy coaches, they know the system, so it didn’t surprise me because, historically, let’s say when there was a Welsh coach and the Welsh team had done well, they were in the majority, the Welsh team.
"I have never seen as thorough a process in terms of all the combinations, the amount of players that were considered, the amount of players that were talked about.
"Andy did all of those players justice in terms of putting enough research, work, asked relevant people and he’s picked the squad that he thinks gives him the best chance to win the tour," Sexton added.
The Lions trained at UCD in Dublin this morning ahead of Friday’s send-off game against Argentina at Aviva Stadium.
Tadhg Furlong (above) was involved in the session, with the tighthead prop missing Leinster’s URC play-off run due to a calf injury.
Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan were also at training, although the Leinster trio didn't take part, with Gibson-Park and Keenan missing the URC final win on Saturday with injury, while the remainder of the Leinster Lions, as well as those from Bath and Leicester Tigers, will link up with the group later today.
Saracens hooker Jamie George and Sale Sharks prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour are set to leave the squad today, having joined the training camp in Portugal last week.
