End Irish civil war over No 10

Johnny Sexton has urged Leinster and Munster supporters to back whoever is selected at 10 for Ireland.

The intense debate over whether Leinster’s Sam Prendergast or Munster’s Jack Crowley should be the first-choice flyhalf at Test level has been split along Irish provincial lines.

Former Ireland No 10 Sexton, who will become a full-time assistant coach with the national team after the British & Irish Lions tour where he will also work under head coach Andy Farrell, said both players were “remarkable talents” with “huge futures ahead of them”.

“The life of a 10 is up and down. No matter what player you look at over the years, they’ve had periods where they’ve been amazing, they’ve had periods when they’ve not been. They’re just so young. You’ve got to give them a chance to learn and experience these things, but the level that they are producing already in their careers is amazing really.

“They’re so far ahead of where I was, for example and they’ve got the world at their feet with the work ethic they have. They’re humble guys, they do want to learn, they want to practice hard and that’s the thing that you look at the most as a coach. You look at the attitude and how humble they are because ultimately that’s what will stand to them going forward.”

Sexton said he disagreed with “some of the narrative around” the flyhalf debate.

“I’ve been in that situation and with social media getting bigger and bigger it’s tough on them at times and it shouldn’t be like that. We should be supporting whoever’s picked and getting fully behind them.”

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The 39-year-old, who retired after the 2023 World Cup with 118 Ireland caps, revealed he had told both Perndergast and Crowley “to delete social media”.

He explained: “All you can do is try and advise in terms of what worked for me. I was exposed to it a little bit at the very start and it’s tough, isn’t it. As a kid, as a seven, eight, nine, 10-year-old, all you want to do is play for Ireland and when you do it and suddenly you’re getting criticised. Not all the time but sometimes and it’s kind of, ‘wow, this is a bit tougher than I thought it was going to be’ but it builds a resilience.

“You find out who are your mates, who are those that you trust and who are those that you can lean on. Going forward, I think they’ll be stronger for it.”

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