I am one of Ireland’s greatest ever players – now I work for a packaging company

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Few in Irish rugby, if any, can hold a candle to Johnny Sexton’s lengthy list of achievements.

He was the second Irishman to be named the World Rugby Player of the Year, won the Six Nations five times and achieved the Grand Slam on three occasions.

Sexton, who won 118 caps for Ireland until his retirement after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, was also a standout for Leinster and helped the club win four European Rugby Champions Cups.

Safe to say, Sexton did it all except win an elusive Webb Ellis Cup.

When players of his ilk retire – he is widely regarded as Ireland’s finest – it’s rarely a surprise to see them instantly pop up on a punditry panel or go straight into coaching.

Instead, Sexton opted for a different path and, much like his glittering career as a player, the new gig is all about ‘challenging’ himself.

“I’ve got a full-time job,” Sexton told Alan Brazil and Gabriel Agbonlahor on the talkSPORT Breakfast show in October 2024.

“We’re rugby players. We’re not like you [ex-footballers], get to put our feet up. We don’t earn the money you guys do.

“It’s a packaging company. I’m on the commercial side of that. It’s been eye-opening. A lot of learning, a massive transition. But I’m enjoying it as well.

“I’m enjoying trying to do something new and try to make myself in that environment and really challenge myself. It’s challenging.”

According to Sexton’s LinkedIn, he is the Chief of Staff for Ardagh Group, a global supplier of sustainable and infinitely recyclable packaging for brands across the world.

He began part-time work with the company in April 2021 while he was still playing, but has taken on more work since he hung up the boots.

However, that’s not to say retirement has been easy to embrace.

Although Sexton knew his career would end after the Rugby World Cup, nothing could prepare him for the drastic change in his day-to-day life.

‘It’s very tough, isn’t it?” Sexton said.

“It’s a massive transition. I’ve heard the phrase, ‘sports people die twice’, once when their career finishes and then obviously when it comes to the end.

“It was a tough time. It was a very surreal time because you’ve feared this moment for such a long time, and then it was there. It was a bit like, you’re on your own. Everyone’s off doing work or all of your ex-teammates are going to training. You’re going, ‘What am I going to do with myself?’

“I had two-and-a-half months before I started a new job. But those two-and-a-half months were probably the toughest because you have no structure to your life, no routine, you don’t really know what to do with yourself. You can only play so much golf.”

The lack of routine is often one of the biggest shocks mentioned by athletes once they retire, with Agbonlahor noting as much.

But with his new role coupled with some other things he’s picked up to help pass the time, Sexton has settled into a nice post-rugby rhythm.

“I have a routine,” Sexton said.

“That’s the thing I was used to. How do I get my gym in? How do I get my few rounds of golf in.

“I play in a seven-a-side soccer team, we play one game a week and go out for a few pints after. That’s special because you’re a part of a team again. You find ways to adapt and become happy in what you’re doing.”

Sexton appeared on talkSPORT to promote his autobiography, ‘Obsessed’, which is out now.

The process of sharing his story was one the 39-year-old found difficult, but felt fans will enjoy learning about his career and plenty of behind-the-scenes tales that have never been told before.

“It’s just a story of my career, of my life, really,” Sexton said.

“It was tough to do in many ways because you have to have some difficult conversations and talk about some difficult things.

“But it’s good, hopefully people will like it.”

He still has one last hurrah, though, in rugby. He is now coach of the British and Irish Lions under Andy Farrell as they prepare to head down under and play Australia, which is live on talkSPORT.

He himself played in two tours, but missed out on a third, in 2021, which is something that still irks him, as he told The Times.

"It kills me. You're always driven by wanting to do something that other people haven't done. You want to be remembered for the right reasons. Often that's with achievement. I got my Lions jerseys framed from Australia and then New Zealand. There was a space left for the South Africa one and it didn't happen. And it hurt, really hurt.

"When Andy got the job as Lions coach [for the 2025 tour to Australia], I texted him and said, 'If I play for my club, would you consider me?' He just wrote back, 'No.' So I'd say he's glad to see the back of having to deal with me every day."

That was before he got the call to join the backroom team. Farrell actually left his son, Owen, out of the tour squad. He’s someone Sexton has great respect for.

"If Owen Farrell were Irish, he'd be considered the greatest player that we've had,” he added in his interview with The Times, telling the newspaper the Englishman would be in his squad if he was picking.

“An amazing competitor. But for some reason he just didn't get that [respect]. He's one of the best team-mates I've ever had. He's one of the best players I've ever played with. It's tough to see him not playing international rugby. He's someone that should be playing international rugby still and captaining England. I have nothing but admiration for him. When you know him as a person, you see the real Owen Farrell."

Instead, he’s got Finn Russell to coach. The two are opposites in terms of character, but they will no doubt put their differing personalities aside to win in Australia like they did in 2013 where Farrell and Sexton first struck up their friendship.

The Lions head Down Under this summer for nine matches, culminating with a three-match Test series against the Wallabies.

talkSPORT will have exclusive live coverage of the entire tour, with Eddie Jones part of the broadcast team.