Gatland challenges Sexton to stay fit

Warren Gatland has warned Johnny Sexton he will need to prove his fitness if he is to be the first choice fly-half for the British and Irish Lions' tour of New Zealand.

Sexton has struggled with hamstring problems in recent seasons and was forced to sit out Ireland’s final Guinness Series Test win over Australia after picking up a fresh injury in the previous week's clash with New Zealand.

His ongoing problems led Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt to suggest that the IRFU would consider giving him a break from the sport to give him the opportunity to fully recover from the injury.

Gatland admits Sexton's durability is a concern and he has challenged him to stay fit for the RBS Six Nations.

“Obviously Johnny hasn’t played a lot of rugby recently. You want him to get through the Six Nations. It’s making sure I do my job properly. You look at the quality of someone like Johnny Sexton and the experience he’s had," Gatland said at the announcement of his three assistant coaches for the 2017 tour.

“The conversation with Johnny might be ‘We might take you on tour. There’s been a little bit of concern about your durability. If you do pick up a knock or an injury and you’re out for a couple of weeks, the quality of the squad is that, someone else could step into your shoes and when you come back, normally when you come back in an Irish situation, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been out, you go straight back into the team as number one.

“If you come into a Lions situation, if someone is playing well, you might not be going back into that starting side as a 10, you might be sitting on the bench or not involved. How are you going to be able to handle that? Are you going to be prepared for that? What’s your attitude around the team and squad going to be like?’

“If I’m doing my job properly, I’ve had that conversation with him and potentially he’s got his head right and he’s prepared for that potential eventuality if it does happen.

“The Lions can be a different sort of animal or beast when you have the quality of players to choose from. It’s different.

“From his point of view, in the next few months and Six Nations are important for him. A couple of other players have done all right for Ireland — Paddy Jackson and the young boy Carbery looks all right for the future as well.

“I think Johnny probably knows he’s probably under a little bit of pressure to be fit and perform too.”

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