"It's horrible to see" - Johnny Sexton responds to racist comments after Edwin Edogbo's Ireland debut

Despite being born and raised in the water-side town in County Cork and a decorated alumni of Cobh Pirates - the first Ireland international the club has ever produced - Edogbo found himself a victim of racist abuse, as the ugly side of social media once again reared it's head.

Due to the remarks, the IRFU and Munster Rugby official channels turned off comments to the official posts celebrating Edogbo's debut. Ireland skills coach Johnny Sexton expressed how this marred what should have been a joyous occassion for the 23-year-old. On this matter, Sexton said;

"Look, it's horrible to see that in this day and age, it still exists like that. In terms of how he is, he's good. I don't think he would have paid too much attention to it, and I don't know if he would have even seen too much of it. He's a pretty humble guy, really level-headed, but it's not right, some of the comments that were made. I feel for him, I feel for his family. It marred a pretty special day for him."

The social media minefield continues to be contentious area for the Ireland team. After the win over Italy last Saturday, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell gave a heated post-match address, hitting back at the 'keyboard warriors' that have been eating away at his fly halves Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley.

Sexton revealed how both Prendergast and Crowley were impressive upon their return to Ireland training, as the preparations mount up for this Saturday's trip to Twickenham. Whilst the number 10 jersey is likely to be worn by either the Leinster of Munster fly half this weekend, Sexton also shone a light upon the wider depth in the role, with both Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley gunning for a run as the Test linchpin.

“Well, they [Prendergast and Crowley] both trained really well today. It’s important that not only those two but Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley, too, that they keep developing and getting game-time. So there are four guys and all the criticism from previous [Rugby World Cup cycles is that we didn’t develop guys, that we ave relied too heavily on one (player) in some positions.

"So we’re doing it a different way now and whether that’s right or wrong, everyone judges it by the outcome but I know that in games to come, they’re going to hit their best form and they’ll be in a good place.”

With the countdown to the 2027 Rugby World Cup now just 18 months away, Sexton expressed how he hopes to have a stacked roster of fly half options ahead of the incoming trip to Australia.

“Well, all four [fly halves] are very good, they’ve all got their different trengths and as coaches I think we are trying to make sure that we have lots of options going to a World Cup, try and learn from previous cycles and make sure that we give them all a certain number of caps, we need to make sure that we see them perform in different pressurised situations, in different venues against different opposition. I’m sure it will be like that for the foreseeable.”