Jonathan Sexton was named captain of a 33-player Ireland squad in his fourth and final Rugby World Cup which begins next week. Sexton said he believes that this group of players can go on to create history.
“I’ve been in groups before where you go to a World Cup and you say we’re here to win it but you don’t often have the achievements to back that up,”
“We’ve got things like the Grand Slam, going to New Zealand and winning a series, stuff like that, stuff that when you go back over other teams that have won the World Cup, like England in 2003."
Sexton has not played for Ireland since Ireland was crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champions against England back in March. He suffered a groin injury during that game and was suspended for three matches because of remarks he made to match officials on the pitch after the Champions Cup decider.
Sexton praised the IRFU for making sure he made the best recovery possible. He was under the care of Doctor Griffin in the UK.
“Griffen mapped my return to play out for me and he was literally, to the day, accurate in what he told me, when I could return to training when I could kick a ball again.
“He just mapped it out, knew from his experience. It’s very impressive to see. Thankfully it’s been good over the last number of weeks and hopefully ready to go.”
“It’s over now, thankfully, and hopefully I’ll be in good shape come our first pool game against Romania in two weeks.”
