While rugby players back in the 1970s and 1980s might have sneaked away to the pub for a quiet pint or two on the eve of an international match, Johnny Sexton sought a different kind of sustenance. Even his Leinster and Ireland team-mates probably did not know that he used to say a prayer in the dressing room before matches: “Come O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of thy love. Send forth thy Spirit and they shall be created.
And you shall renew the face of the Earth. Amen.”.