How the stars fare against eachother

Defence/ Tackling

Though the blips have become less frequent over time, missed one-on-one first-up tackles have always been O’Gara’s Achilles heel.

The stronger Sexton has had to work on this aspect of his game too, but has done so successfully, to the point where he is not only the better tackler but seems to enjoy the physical stuff.

Passing/Running

O’Gara’s running threat was never his strongest suit, but he still creates space for those outside him with his pacey, wristy array of flat passes, and can vary his game from the pocket and on the gain line.

With the initial help of David Knox, Sexton has had to learn how to run a back line and make the most of his own pace, but showed some delightfully creative touches last season for his province and possesses the quicker break.

Kicking

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

As the stats underline, O’Gara is without peers in the world game when it comes to landing pressure place-kicks, be they off the deck or out of hand.

Tactically too, there are none better at keeping the ball in front of his pack and opting when to do so.

Sexton, as that drop goal from half-way in the final at Murrayfield showed, has potentially a range every bit as long and varied, and has been kicking superbly this season.

Temperament

Hmmm, both can be feisty firebrands, but that competitive edge is what you want. O’Gara had a tempestuous rivalry with Felipe Contepomi which carried on to the Test arena and clearly wasn’t especially pleasant.

Enter Sexton in the semi-final, and after the boy had been reputedly welcomed on to the Croke Park pitch by O’Gara cue Sexton’s volley of verbals after Gordon D’Arcy’s try (pictured).

O’Gara, who could probably have revelled in an individual sport as well, and thrives in personal rivalries, will assuredly rise to his first real challenger since David Humphreys retired.

The fast-maturing Sexton appears now to have his emotions in check more. This one could run.

Big-Game Experience

O’Gara, with 92 caps, is Ireland’s all-time record points scorer (919), Munster’s all-time record points scorer (1,793 in 162 games), the Six Nations’ all-time leading points scorer (499) and the Heineken Cup’s all-time leading scorer (1,040), and is a Grand Slam clinching, two-time Heineken Cup winner.

The uncapped Sexton (189 points in 44 outings for Leinster) has a way to go yet therefore, but then the 24-year-old is the younger man by eight years, and games such as today’s will continue his upward graph.