This Saturday, Jonathan Sexton takes on his former club for the first time since his departure. The Leinster out-half will face off against Racing 92 for the Champions Cup final in Bilbao after two eventful years in Paris.
In 2013 Racing President Jacky Lorenzetti proudly presented his marquee trio of big signings; Jamie Roberts, Dan Lydiate and Jonathan Sexton. Sexton's departure had been rumoured for several months prior to the announcement and instigated widespread panic in Irish rugby as to whether this was a single breakaway stream or the beginning of an outgoing flood.
The move united former rival Ronan O'Gara with Sexton as the Corkman also went to Paris as the club's kicking coach. What was once a fractious relationship was soon to turn affectionate as the pair recognised their own strong points and flaws in each other. Regular kicking competitions continued to stoke their competitive fires but the post-training debate over cups of Barry's tea forged formidable friendship. As he revealed in his documentary, O'Gara claimed Sexton was a figure he relied on in Paris: "It's amazing at this stage that I'm saying how much I like the guy."
It was a mixed opening season for Sexton. Surprisingly, the club bombed in Europe and crashed out of their pool with only one win. In the Top 14, they defeated Toulouse in the quarter-final only to be resoundingly beaten by Toulon in the semi. Despite this, of the 27 points they scored over those two games, Sexton landed all of them.
In the summer of 2014, it was announced a deal to return to Ireland at the end of the season had been signed and Sexton was then forced to take a 12-week stand-down period after suffering concussion injuries. That season, Racing did not make it past the quarter-finals of the Top 14 and Champions Cup while Sexton was relegated from kicking duties as Machenaud assumed primary position.
It is an era that still provokes debate amongst the French press. Even in the previews this week, there is no doubt they look upon his stint with the club as an unsuccessful era.
Arrived with great fanfare, the Irish international was to be the player who propels Racing 92 into another dimension. Two seasons later, the Irish star was heading back to where he had come, his head down.
Rama Eurosport
In two years in France, he showed nothing.
L'equipe.
Racing coach Laurent Labit also issued a damning summation back in 2015: 'He didn’t always perform for Racing and he knew it very well.' One former team-mate compared him to LA Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It's a sentiment his former team-mates have also touched on. Benjamin Dambielle told Midi Olympique this week that the new environment proved difficult for the Irishman: "Jonathan has had major problems adapting."
Yet they are in little doubt about his ability. Sexton's Six Nations' drop-goal heroics was in the same stadium that he had one of his best games for Racing. In January 2014, Sexton and Mike Phillips blitzed Toulouse and very nearly kept them scoreless in a 25-5 victory. Racing's Henry Chavancy assured the French press he knows it is not beyond Sexton's realm to do it again.
We have suffered a little the consequences during the Six Nations and we know he is able to do it again this weekend. We will try to make his life difficult.
Now 32, the continued improvement in Sexton's arsenal ensures he has become a world-class operator for club and country. His all-round game contribution makes him so much more than just a kicker. Whether it be his defensive output or play-calling, the Irish 10 has become the single most important player in this dominant Leinster side. On Saturday he has the opportunity to extend his legacy, and prove his worth to those in the French capital once and for all.
