text: Success is a gloriously familiar routine for Johnny Sexton. Adding gold-plated entries to his personal CV has become an annual exercise – a tradition he is hell-bent on maintaining. As he prepared for a European Champions Cup quarter-final showdown with Saracens on Sunday in Paris, Racing Metro’s No 10 and Irish icon reflected on his healthy habit. ‘I’ve been very lucky to have been part of some great sides with Leinster and Ireland, and there haven’t been too many years that have gone by that I haven’t been part of a side winning trophies,’ he said. In fact, since the 29-year-old established himself at senior level, 2010 stands alone as a year without substantial reward. There were league titles in 2008 and 2013, Heineken Cups in 2009, 2011 and 2012, a Challenge Cup in 2013, plus the Test peaks – Six Nations titles this year and last, and a Lions series triumph in Australia in 2013. Johnny Sexton wants to full the void by winning a medal with Racing Metro this season . Short of helping Ireland to win the World Cup later this year, there’s not much left for Sexton to achieve, but he won’t settle for what he has. None of the medals have been earned in the colours of Racing, and filling that void in his check-list is a pressing priority. With a summer return to Dublin approaching, Sexton said: ‘I was speaking to Ronan (O’Gara – former Ireland team-mate and Racing’s kicking coach) last week and saying, for me, for my two years here to be a success, we need to pick up a trophy. Whenever I come back to France, I want to be able to hold my head up high, say that I gave my best to Racing while I was here and helped the club achieve something.’ The Parisian team are in the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite event for the first time, but it is familiar territory for their Irish playmaker. Sexton has featured in 11 knock-out games in continental rugby and won the lot. It is a proud record that hadn’t really occurred to him. Sexton has helped French side reach the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite event for first time . ‘I hadn’t realised that. That builds the pressure on me nicely,’ he quipped. ‘I’ ve never played a knock-out game for Racing, so hopefully it’s going to be one from one!’ Pressure is no problem to him. He handled the scrutiny of being the conductor for the Lions and has rarely faltered in conveying a sense of supreme self-belief. When Leinster were staring down the barrel in the 2011 Heineken Cup Final in Cardiff – trailing 22-6 to Northampton at half-time – Sexton scored two second-half tries in a 28-point haul to propel his province to a comeback victory which took an instant place in the folklore of club rugby in the northern hemisphere. These days, he is often acclaimed as the world’s premier fly-half. Asked about the accolade, he said: ‘I’ve worked hard throughout my career to try to get people to think that way of me, so when you hear that it is very nice and you feel that all your work has paid off. But you’re the best one day and the worst the next, so I try to stay grounded. I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs in my career, so I will keep my feet firmly on the ground.’ Sexton intends to return to Dublin in the summer after two years in France . In truth, there have been more of the ups than the downs. Sexton had to bide his time to become a fixture in the Ireland team – serving an impatient apprenticeship behind O’Gara. The pair were known to have a frosty relationship for a while, based on the fierce contest for the No 10 shirt, so there was surprise when O’Gara followed his younger compatriot to Racing as a kicking coach. However, the ice has long since thawed. There is warmth between them now. ‘It was many years ago that we were probably best of enemies,’ said Sexton. ‘I was the young up-start who was trying to get into the Irish team, and he was the established international. But towards the latter part of his career we became good buddies, as players. It’s been great working with him here. Ronan has been someone for me to bounce stuff off, when things are going well or going badly.’ Initially, both Irishmen struggled to settle in Paris. A lack of fluent French was a significant issue for Sexton, as the man charged with orchestrating his Gallic club’s attacking game. ‘It was very tough at the start,’ he said. ‘When I came over, I didn’t have a great grasp of the language and I play in a position where it really helps to have a good grasp of French. ‘For the first four or five months, it was tough. I came off the back of the Lions tour, I had about two weeks off then started my season straight away, without much of a break. So the start was difficult, but then we started to improve as a team and turned things around. Now it has come full circle. I am much more settled and I can speak the language pretty well. I’m going to miss a lot of people here.’ Last summer, Sexton agonised over his next career move and eventually resolved to re-join Leinster, rather than sign another contract with Racing – who have made light of the setback by recruiting no less than Dan Carter to pick up the baton after the World Cup. While he called it a ‘tough decision’, the issue of work-load at key times was decisive for Sexton. ‘I have found it extremely difficult to play in the Six Nations and come back in between games to play here,’ he said. ‘I was playing Top 14 games while all the other Irish boys were resting in camp.’ The additional demands have put a strain on him, but Sexton has managed to juggle his duties effectively, to keep Racing in the hunt in the Top 14 and Champions Cup, and help Ireland retain their Six Nations title, in dramatic fashion – once again edging out England on points-difference. He described Super Saturday; the culmination of this year’s championship, as the ‘best day in a green jersey’ for himself and many of his Test colleagues. Talisman Sexton helped Ireland retain the Six Nations title this year . All the trophies and medals and plaudits haven’t quelled the fire in him. Asked to address criticism of Ireland’s often pragmatic tactics in the Six Nations – and a lack of tries prior to the torrent against Scotland on the final day – Sexton offered a defiant retort. ‘There were areas of weakness (in the opposition) that we looked to target,’ he said, referring to an effective Irish kicking game. ‘After the first three games, there was a perception that we were kicking the arse off the ball, but Joe (Schmidt, Ireland’s coach) said to us that we had passed the ball more than any other team in the competition. Sometimes perception and reality are miles apart. We showed what we could do with ball in hand against Wales but we were a bit inaccurate. Then it clicked against Scotland.’ If it clicks again for Ireland at the World Cup, they have a growing belief that – driven on by their Lion at No 10 – they can mount a genuine challenge for the Webb Ellis Cup. But first, Sexton will focus on signing off from Racing with something to show for his time there. The CV has already been embellished this year, but there may be further entries to follow.
target: Johnny Sexton has featured in 11 Euro knock-out games and won the lot .
  Racing Metro's No 10 wants to finish two-year stint in Paris with a medal .
  The French side face Saracens in last eight of European Champions Cup .