Andrew Goodman excited by Johnny Sexton's role with Irish out-halves

For much of November, there was an air of mystery around Johnny Sexton's role in the Irish squad.

With no official announcement, or no details of his position on the Irish Rugby website, the nature of when and what he was doing in camp puzzled some.

Bit by bit, we are getting a clearer picture of what the former Ireland captain is adding, or is at least attempting to add.

Primarily working with the Irish out-halves, Ireland’s record points scorer is dipping in and out of camp, while also lending his hand to wider areas of the coaching team.

The Ireland squad return from their warm-weather Six Nations camp in Portugal today after a week in the Algarve, where Sexton was with them for a portion of the trip.

"For us coaches, he's got such a great eye on the game," Ireland’s attack coach Andrew Goodman said.

"Personally, myself, I run things past him and I love him because he's honest and he'll provide his own opinion on things as well and that always leads to discussion and debate and then ultimately you get to a really good spot."

And the former Leinster assistant joked that Sexton is also handy for some off-the-pitch activities in camp.

"He's great to have around, apart from being a great padel partner - he's sharp on the courtside and I try to get in with him as much as I can."

When his new role was first revealed back in November, there was one school of thought that his presence might prove too overbearing.

As a player, Sexton was well-known for having high standards and demanding a lot of his team-mates, with some believing that Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley would be better learning in the job themselves.

But Goodman has no such fears.

"He's doing the coaching with the kicking and mental [skills] with the tens.

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