A busy year for Johnny Sexton - and more Lions outhalf selection intrigue?

Far from being able to take it easy since retiring his boots, Johnny Sexton has a busy year ahead now that he’s been added to Andy Farrell’s British & Irish Lions coaching team – after which he will take up a full-time coaching position with the Irish team, as well as working with men’s and women’s senior and age-grade teams. John O’Sullivan brings you all the details on Sexton’s jammed diary.

His involvement with the Lions will, writes Gerard Meagher, “raise further intrigue over the outhalf selection debate”. Sexton is a big fan of Owen Farrell, has been disparaging about Finn Russell in the past, offered a mixed assessment of Marcus Smith and, of course, has worked closely with Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley. It’ll be interesting, then, to see what influence he has on who gets to start in that number 10 jersey.

John also previews the Irish women’s Six Nations game against Wales in Newport on Sunday, the loss of Erin King through a knee injury, that will keep her out of the rest of the campaign and the World Cup later this year, an enormous blow to the side.

Nathan Johns introduces us to rugby’s ‘Jack Charlton-style granny hunters’, the IRFU using its IQ Rugby programme to find Irish-qualified players based abroad. As Nathan puts it, “Ireland is too small a rugby nation not to tap into mass migration across the Irish Sea”.

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Back home, Albert Heenop looks at the impact Jacques Nienaber has had on Leinster since becoming their defence specialist in 2023, those Champions Cup “clean sheets” against Harlequins and the Glasgow Warriors suggesting it’s been a rather positive one.

In Gaelic games, Paul Keane talks to Offaly hurling captain Ciarán Burke about the influence of Durrow on the county team, at least six of the club’s players likely to feature in Saturday’s Championship meeting with Dublin.

Gavin Cummiskey, meanwhile, writes about the teenager who could well be the League of Ireland’s next million-pound player, Cork City’s gifted midfielder Cathal O’Sullivan likely to leave for pastures new this summer.

Speaking of millions – Rory McIlroy won €3.69 of them at Augusta last Sunday. That brings his career earnings on the PGA Tour to almost €100m, but that’s not even the half of it. By the time David Gorman added up his other earnings, he reckoned he “could one day be a billionaire sportsman”. That Green Jacket, though? Priceless.

TV Watch: Sky Sports Golf has round two from the RBC Heritage from 12.15pm today, Shane Lowry making a solid start on Thursday with a 68. And Leona Maguire opened her LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship challenge with the same score, Sky bringing us round two tonight (11pm). In between, Virgin Media Two has live coverage of Drogheda United v Shelbourne in the Premier Division (7.45).