Johnny Sexton's remit in Ireland camp won’t be limited to mentoring the out-halves, according to Simon Easterby.
The former World Rugby player of the year, who retired at the end of the World Cup last year when Ireland lost to New Zealand, is not officially part of the coaching ticket but onboard, ostensibly, as an advisor to three relatively inexperienced fly-halves.
But, in addition to sharing his experience with Jack Crowley, Ciarán Frawley and Sam Prendergast, the 39-year-old will be given free rein to add his considerable rugby knowledge to the set-up.
"He has been involved, for a few days when we were in the HPC [high-performance centre in Dublin]," said Easterby, speaking from the team’s training camp in Portugal as Ireland prepare to face the All Blacks on Friday week.
"He’s definitely going to be involved over the next few weeks, transitioning in and out, lending his support to certain individuals within the team.
"Johnny has a wide bit of experience, so we’ll lean on him for other things.
"He’s excited about what potentially he could offer and so are we as coaches, as well as players.
"It’s great to have him in. He’s a great man, he’s a great personality in the group.
"I guess it is to be seen how much time he is involved in the next four weeks, but certainly at the moment we see him being involved.
"He has already been in and potentially he is going to come in and out of camp over the next four weeks."
"A real positivity around him being back involved. He hasn’t been out of the game that long, but he adds a real bit of positivity and guys are delighted that he’s involved."
Sexton, who now works as a commercial manager for a glass and metal packaging company, retired after a 14-year international career where he earned 124 caps including six for the Lions.
He won the Champions Cup four times with Leinster and five Six Nations titles.
Munster’s Crowley is Andy Farrell’s preferred option at out-half with the 24-year-old Cork man starting all seven Tests this year bringing his caps total to 16.
Frawley has risen through the ranks as a utility back to become the second-choice fly-half, with his brace of dropgoals earning Ireland a memorable victory over South Africa in the summer.
The 26-year-old Leinster back has six caps, while team-mate Prendergast, 21, is yet to be capped.
"Johnny, having retired recently still has his finger on the pulse in terms of playing in that position in particular, playing in the 10 role," added Easterby, due to replace head coach Farrell on an interim basis when the Englishman takes over with Lions at the end of the Autumn Nations Series.
"Understanding what we do as a team and trying to impart some of that experience that he’s had across the last few years and the way we play the game.
"And I know Jack Crowley’s obviously had time with us and so has Ciarán, Sam less so. But I think all those guys are like sponges.
"They want to learn and they want to understand, they want to get know-how and then go out and try and put those things into practice.
"Johnny will just be able to give them a bit of guidance at times. When you’re leaning on someone like him with that much experience, certainly a few words here and there sometimes, a little bit of a tip and a bit of feedback that’s all it might be.
"But I think it's something that teams can do more of is lean on guys who are not that long out of the game but also have massive respect and could have massive influence on those new guys coming through in terms of their leadership and their understanding of the way the game runs especially in that position as a 10."
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