Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has not put a foot wrong with some bold moves since he took over a demoralised team in 2013, but in his selection of fly-half Jonathan Sexton for Saturday's Six Nations clash with France he has perhaps taken his biggest one yet.
It is a huge gamble for the 49-year-old New Zealander, who guided the Irish to the Six Nations title last year with a final, nail-biting victory over France in Paris.
The world class Sexton will now start in his first game for 12 weeks -- after serving a mandatory rest period for suffering three concussions in a calendar year -- in a match Schmidt sees as being the decider in whether they retain their title.
Part of the reason for throwing the 29-year-old into shark-infested waters -- where such powerhouses as centre Mathieu Bastareaud and flanker Thierry Dusautoir will need no second asking to get after him as soon as possible -- is his club Racing-Metro will wish to play him next weekend against Clermont in the Top 14.
"We don't have control over him playing for his club but we do have control over him playing this weekend," said Schmidt after announcing his starting XV on Thursday.
"If we get a result we stay in the hunt if we don't then it will be incredibly hard to be top of the pile come the end of the tournament."
The pressure on both men is enormous, for Schmidt because of his decision and for Sexton running the risk of suffering another hard hit to the head.
Schmidt, a former headmaster back in New Zealand, extremely eloquent and not afraid to wax lyrical when answering questions, was unusually curt when asked had he contemplated starting Sexton on the bench.
"No."
Schmidt, whose side are on a run of eight successive test victories which is only the third time an Irish side have managed that, is adamant notions Sexton is not fit are wide of the mark.
"He would have been as much of a risk to start as anyone else," said Schmidt.
"He's very fit, he's ready to go and he's fresh. He's been training for 12 weeks. The only thing he has not been doing till this week is contact training.
"I think one of the misconceptions is that Johnny's not fully fit. He's fully fit. He is very fit.
"I don't think he will drop off because a lack of cardiovascular fitness. I think he's very fit. He's totally fit from a playing perspective."
Sexton, though, offers the Irish a vision and ability to spread play that Ian Keatley, well as he kicked in the 26-3 victory over Italy last Saturday, doesn't possess at international level yet.
"Bringing him and the two other guys (Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien) back in adds a bit of organisation and leadership to the team on the pitch," said Schmidt while adding that Keatley had done a good job.
The Ireland coach may not believe the French won't pound away at Sexton to the detriment of spreading the ball wide to their wings, but his French counterpart Philippe Saint-Andre sounded a different beat on Wednesday when the possible selection of Sexton was mooted.
"Well they (Heaslip and Sexton) are both very good players and stalwarts of this Ireland side," said Saint-Andre.
"Sexton, though, hasn't played for 12 weeks so we should really test him early on."
How he copes with that attention could well decide whether by the end of the 80 minutes Ireland and Schmidt have broken the bank or that the casino as so often has had the last laugh.
Source: AFP
