A fairly run-of-the-mill New Year's inter-pro derby against Connacht on January 1 this year was an ideal game to get Johnny Sexton up to speed for the Champions Cup and Six Nations games that lay ahead.
It wasn't meant to be his last ever game in a Leinster jersey.
With Leo Cullen's announcement today that he will need what is likely a season ending groin procedure, it looks like his 17 year career with the province has come to an abrupt and anti-climatic end.
From Leinsterrugby.ie:
Johnny Sexton will see a specialist on Tuesday and have a procedure on the groin injury picked up in Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations game against England which will likely keep him sidelined for the remainder of the Leinster Rugby season.
Having made his debut for Leinster in 2006 against the Border Reivers, Sexton has been a stalwart of the team since their Heineken Cup semi-final in 2009 and the most important player in what has arguably been Europe's most successful ever side.
Johnny Sexton - Leinster's Best Ever?
1 January 2023; Jonathan Sexton of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship between Leinster and Connacht at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
READ HERE: 'One More Year' - The Irish Players' Hopeful Chants To Johnny Sexton Over The Weekend
"Yeah, finished, 2023 World Cup," Sexton said last year when asked about his retirement.
"I'm delighted to be able to say it.
"I've been beating around the bush for six months, always nervous talking about the World Cup when you weren't guaranteed to be there.
"But I just want to make the most of this last 18 months of my career, and go out on the top."
While he will not be going out on top for Leinster, the enforced rest may help his World Cup fitness and form, and Ross Byrne will benefit from the increased game time.
"Rugby is my passion, it’s all I’ve known," he said recently when asked about his post-rugby plans. "I’ve been doing it for 20 years, longer maybe, when I was a kid. But I think it’s important to step away from it to try another walk of life. And then we’ll see what happens.
“I’ll go and see if I can do something in the business world, I’ve been doing a bit of work experience there over the last few years, one day a week, so I’ll go into that and see how it goes.
“It might not be for me. I might get the itch straight away and come out of retirement, play for St Marys!”
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