Johnny Sexton recalls how he spent a week preparing to ask Roy Keane questions - and only got to ask his hero one of them.
The Ireland skipper smiled as he recounted what happened when Manchester United and Ireland legend Keane met with the Ireland rugby team prior to a clash with England at Twickenham 18 months ago.
"We lost, so he didn’t have that big of an impact on us, but it was a brilliant couple of hours with him," said Sexton.
"He was incredibly generous with his time and his stories, but I was actually delegated to ask him questions on the night."
Sexton is a big Manchester United fan so was excited at the opportunity to grill Keane. Sexton being Sexton, he prepared assiduously for the role.
"I asked him one question and he spoke for two hours," the 36-year-old girinned.
"So I was doing my best job, writing questions all week. I was researching and searching different avenues that I could probe him on - and I asked one question and lads slagged the arse off me. But yeah, it was very special from that point of view."
Asked if Keane just drove on with his talk on the basis Sexton's opener was so bad, the Leinster star replied: "I think it was the opposite - I think it was that good that he was worried about what else was coming!
"So, he was just very, very smart in how he spoke for two hours because he knew there were brilliant questions coming!
"It was probably very surreal sitting there listening to him. He was very, very open with us. We asked him about different things about leadership, and about team culture and environments. We probably didn’t get the answers we thought we were going to get.
"What he boiled down to was effort, hard work, turning up day in, day out. He gave us very simple answers, but brilliant answers all the same.
"You sometimes get speakers in and they’ve got buzzwords and they talk about lots, but with him, it was just getting to the point.
"He wasn’t mad about all the talk about leadership groups and all this stuff, he was more saying that when he was at United, he just had good people around him and that drove standards. And they probably didn’t even know they were doing it.
"But it was a brilliant couple of hours. We could have sat there all night listening to him. And it’s the same when you watch him on TV now - you can’t turn him off when he’s on the screen."
Sexton recently made his 100th Ireland Test appearance - in the victory over Japan - and was instrumental in the latest win over the All Blacks, but both milestones were "dampened" by injury, he admits.
The Dubliner picked up knee and ankle injuries in the All Blacks game but on a positive note it presented the opportunity to get away to the sun with his wife Laura and their kids.
Sexton admits that Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup opener against Bath will come too soon for him, but he hopes to play some part in Friday week's trip to Montpelier.
"So, that’s the plan, that’s what I’m working for," he said. "If I can get back for the Montpellier game, that’s the goal at the moment.
"It’s important that I’m there for the team at all stages.
"If I’m injured, I’m there to help, and if someone asks questions, of course, I’ll be as open as I can, but at the same time, there are guys there that are playing out-half and there are guys there leading the team from the captain that need to do it their own way, and they don’t need me in there overbearing them.
"So, it’s a balance, isn’t it? It’s being there for them, making sure they’re okay and we’re preparing well, and if you see something maybe having a quiet word to one of the coaches or with the captain or the other out-half who’s playing.
"But I hope to be fit, hopefully in round two."
He is driven by the opportunity to add a fifth Champions Cup star to the blue jersey this year, having last won the competition in 2018.
"It took a lot of hard work to get us into a club or a culture, whatever you want to call it, where that is the case," said Sexton. "That wasn’t always the case. It was a slog for a good few years.
"Now we have put ourselves in a position that if we don’t win in Europe it’s not been a great season. Sometimes you can win the league and it’s a good season.
"Obviously, any time you win a trophy it’s a good season, but we want to be a great Leinster team and to do that you have to win the European Cup based on what teams have done before us."
As for his own form, he knows that he will always have his critics - but hadn't banked on his own son Luca being among the toughest!
He mentions that Luca didn't have an interest initially, though he attended the matches.
"I think over COVID times he has grown up a lot and he’s taken a strong interest in sport," Sexton remarked.
"He supports Liverpool, which is breaking my heart because all his mates support Liverpool. His favourite player is James Lowe, which also breaks my heart.
"But it’s incredible. The honesty that they come out with is brilliant as well. They sometimes say the things that you don’t want them to say.
"After the All Blacks game, he said to me: “Dad, you missed two, and your replacement got three.” I’ve just gone: “Ah, it’s started already.” So, it’s got some challenges as well!".
So where does Sexton see his own form after missing out on the Lions tour in the summer and enjoying a full pre-season?
"I don’t like talking about myself too much, I’ll leave that up to other people, but I feel good, I feel good on the pitch," he said. "Often - I’m not being critical - you guys might look at kicks or tackles made.
"Often some of the things you’re proudest of or most pleased with go unnoticed. It’s the small things.
"I think the thing for me is, as an out-half, you’ve got to get the team playing well, you’ve got to get the team flowing and you’ve got to get the team in a good place, and when the team does that, that’s what I take the most satisfaction from.
"Sometimes, you can have moments in a game where people go: “Wow!” and other times you don’t. But the times when you don’t have special moments are sometimes your best games.
"I suppose the best thing I can say is that we played well in the two games I was involved in and that’s what I’m happiest about."
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