Jonathan Sexton: he's our hero.

This week Ireland became a Royalist nation. Everyone is a fan of the Queen and her triumphant State Visit to the country, that was soon to be followed by US President Obama. It took an American, born in Honalulu with a Great Grandfather from Kenya to inspire the Irish to be proud to be Irish. The country was furthermore instilled with pride with the dignified modesty of a very humble but very brilliant Jonathan Sexton, who brought Leinster to an undisputed victory at the Heineken Cup Final. You couldn't have written the script on how that game transpired. Ireland has turned a page. No more will we talk about Bank Bailouts and the IMF. The great nation of craic, pints and banter is back in full swing. Long may it live.

Jonathan Sexton takes Leinster to Heineken Cup win over Northampton

Leinster 33-22 Northampton

From The Guardian, Monday 23 May 2011.

Some games defy description. There have, statistically, been bigger second-half comebacks in rugby union but there have been none in which a team have undergone the extreme makeover which propelled Leinster to a second European title in three years. Lazarus, it would seem, has a Ballsbridge postcode. 

It all made for the most memorable of Heineken Cup finals. As well as scoring 28 points, including two tries in a remarkable flurry in which Leinster scored 27 unanswered points from 22-6 down, Sexton was also a keynote speaker at half-time, invoking the memory of Liverpool's famous 2005 European Cup comeback against Milan in Istanbul. His coach, Joe Schmidt, weighed in, telling his players they would be remembered forever if they regrouped and dug deep. For someone like Brian O'Driscoll, such tests of character are second nature. "When you say, 'Go to the well, boys,' he's 200ft down," said Schmidt. "He can dig pretty deep when the going gets tough."

Sexton's mentality, it would seem, contains similar flecks of granite. "I told the lads that you see this type of thing in sport all the time," he said, "teams just bouncing back from adversity, like Liverpool a few years ago." For a 25-year-old to transform a game of such significance, though, is far from commonplace. The 6ft 2in Sexton looks to be the best No10 in Europe, and there were echoes of Dan Carter in the surgical confidence with which he sliced up the tiring Saints. There can be no higher praise. The Lions have found their Test fly-half for 2013.

It also helped that Shane Jennings came on to replace Kevin McLaughlin, with Sean O'Brien switching across to the blindside flank. Leinster knew they had to pick up the tempo and accelerate away from the coils of the Northampton scrum. Greg Feek, their former All Black scrum coach, had a few urgent words about the need to lock down Saints' front row, whose penchant for driving through and upwards was causing mayhem, even with Brian Mujati in the sin-bin. "There was also a realisation that we'd worked for nine months and given it all away," said Sexton. "We said that if we could get the next score it would really rattle them."

The facts are stark: Irish teams have won four of the past six Heineken Cups (helping to qualify Connacht for next year's tournament for the first time) and England were royally thumped in Dublin two months ago. "We've just got to deal better with pressure when it comes on," said Lawes. "We need to learn from this."

An Irish winner of the Magners League is guaranteed, with Leinster due to face Munster in the final in Limerick on Saturday. It will be interesting, among other things, to see how the Munster No10, Ronan O'Gara, responds to Sexton's fast-rising profile. It is only a few months since Sexton was under fire after struggling, ironically, against Wales in Cardiff. On this occasion, beneath the Millennium Stadium roof, he displayed a sniper's accuracy to trump his opposite number, Stephen Myler, who had enjoyed an inspired first half. Of the game's 55 points, 49 were scored at one end.

The Red Rum-style finish was also a notable personal triumph for Leo Cullen, Leinster's underrated captain. Only four clubs have won more than one Heineken Cup and they all have been led by second-row forwards. Coincidence? Maybe not. Cullen and O'Driscoll will not be around forever but, given the age profile of the Leinster squad, Europe's blue period could last for some time yet.