He might be the best out-half in Europe right now, but Johnny needs to up his game when it comes to the commercial side of things.
As well as success and the increasing number of people going along to games, one of the most telling signs of the growth of Irish rugby over the noughties was the ubiquitous presence of Irish rugby players in ads in newspapers or on radio and TV.
Nobody, of course, has yet topped Denis Hickie’s appearance in an ad for Wavin pipes, but countless have tried their best, whether it’s Ronan O’Gara with Newbridge, Paul O’Connell with Pinergy or Donncha O’Callaghan with a racy ad for Triton showers.
Johnny Sexton hasn’t featured in as many of some of his colleagues and his inexperience in the field was the subject of another excellent Gift Grub sketch this morning as Paul O’Connell, Rob Kearney and ROG himself (on FaceTime) talked him through his latest commercial venture for Investec.
“No Johnny, it needs more oomph.”
Audio via Today FM
