When the 2013 British and Irish Lions squad was selected, there was almost universal agreement that the single the most important player heading to Australia was Johnny Sexton. And over the course of the Lions' first victorious Test series in sixteen years, Sexton was the man pulling the strings. His try in the third Test was the decisive blow, and his joyous celebrations after scoring were echoed in homes across Britain and Ireland.
That triumph was the culmination of an extraordinary season for the northern hemisphere's leading fly-half - at Leinster, with Ireland, and on tour with the Lions.. Johnny Sexton kept a diary throughout the season, which was in some ways the most difficult of his career. The result is Becoming a Lion.
Sexton brings us into the dressing rooms, onto the training grounds and into the doctors' surgeries. He is frank about his struggles to contain his temper on the pitch, and about his complicated friendships with Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara. He tells the story of the protracted and at times emotional drama that led to his decision to sign for Racing Metro. And he describes the unique intensity of a Lions year - the uncertainty as to whether a sequence of injuries in the spring would prevent his selection, the coming together of the squad, the battle to create a workable team over the course of a few weeks, and the Test matches.
Thoughtful, opinionated and passionate about rugby, Johnny Sexton has produced an honest, intimate portrait of life at the highest levels of the professional game.
