Irish international and Leinster fly-half Johnny Sexton has praised the “mental hunger and professionalism” of the upcoming generation of Irish players, as per the BBC.
Leinster marched their way into the final of the Champions Cup with a hammering win over Scarlets. This comes just a few weeks after Ireland’s Grand Slam triumph in the Six Nations.
Jordan Larmour, 20, James Ryan, 21, and Dan Leavy, 23, are all enjoying breakthrough seasons for their clubs.
Sexton said:
The professionalism for their age is incredible With the Irish team, the same guys came in and brought a freshness and an unbelievable mental hunger.
It doesn’t happen by chance – these guys had to bide their time last year, and they are taking their opportunities now.
Sexton captained Leinster in the semi-final and contributed 18 points in a fantastic displa and said the team will shut out the expectations of vcroty, despite them being heavy favourites going into the final.
The expectation we have is from within. It’s important we ignore most of the noise from the outside, because people build you up to knock you down. I can tell you that personally, that’s just the way the world works.
They will want to see us tumble at the last hurdle, so we have to take motivation from that as well.
