DUBLIN, Ireland — Johnny Sexton has been helping form Ireland’s masterplan for their Six Nations opener against England on Saturday while interim head coach Simon Easterby has said Steve Borthwick’s decision to name his team on Tuesday has given his side a better indication of what is awaiting them on Saturday in Dublin.
Easterby has stepped up to act as interim head coach for Ireland in this Six Nations while Andy Farrell is on secondment with the British & Irish Lions.
One of Easterby’s big selection calls was around fly-half, and he’s opted to go with Sam Prendergast as their starting No.10 for Saturday’s clash in Dublin.
As they plan for England and in Farrell’s absence, Easterby has turned to assistant coaches Andrew Goodman and Sexton for advice on how they plan to attack Borthwick’s side at the weekend.
“Goody has been excellent. I guess he was first in in the summer when helping out [Mike Catt] Catty and [Andy Farrell]. He came in in the autumn and he has some great ideas around us continuing to do what we do well but also pushing on as a team as well, evolving.
“Goody has certainly stepped up to take on more responsibility and Johnny being around has given us his input into the game in attack. Those little chats and experiences that he and Goody have and imparted to the players have been invaluable.
“That’s just an extension to some of the work that he has been doing with Leinster the last couple of seasons as well. It’s been an exciting period. Because Faz [Farrell] isn’t around we’ve all had to step up in certain areas and make sure that the team is going the right way.”
Sexton is Ireland’s record points scorer and retired from the sport after their 2023 Rugby World Cup exit. Since then he’s taken on a part-time assistant coach role in the team and his knowledge has been invaluable in the build-up to Saturday’s match.
“Johnny’s been excellent in just those little conversations around different pressure points that might come in the game that players in the position he played in would have felt,” Easterby said. “And unless you played in that position it’s probably hard to always try and reflect, and try and give advice to people.
“He also has a really good way about him in terms of seeing the game in the bigger picture. He as a ’10’ would know that it’s important that he sees stuff but also that other people around him also see stuff and that it’s not just him on his own.
“Johnny has hopefully really enjoyed the experienced so far. He’s still on that learning curve as a coach and a mentor and it’s been a really added benefit for us a coaching group and as a team having him evolved.”
Ireland will be without lock Joe McCarthy on Saturday as he recovers from a head injury suffered in training on Wednesday, but apart from that, there was a familiar look to the team picked by Easterby.
He named his squad on Thursday, two days after England named theirs. Easterby said Borthwick’s decision to go with both Ben and Tom Curry in the back-row was a surprise, but claims Borthwick’s call to name the team on Tuesday has given Ireland extra time to prepare for the threat on Saturday.
“I think knowing that team early, it just gave us a little bit more of an indication of how they might play the game, but it doesn’t change our strategy or mentality for how we want to play the game this week,” Easterby said.
“It’s up to them if they want to release it; whenever they release it, that’s their call. We focused a lot this last 11 days that we’ve been together on what we do best.
“Part of that is how we deal with them, certainly, but most of that is how we put our own game into practice.”
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Source: espn.com