British and Irish Lions 2017: Jonathan Sexton admits Owen Farrell battle is biggest of his career

With Warren Gatland looking to use Farrell as a fly-half, one of the two leading 10s in the Northern Hemisphere could face missing out on the Test starting XV

Jonathan Sexton believes Owen Farrell poses his biggest individual challenge of his career (Getty)

An intriguing battle is already developing within the British and Irish Lions squad in the fight for the No 10 shirt, with Jonathan Sexton admitting that he faces the biggest individual battle of his career to beat Owen Farrell to selection for the first Test against New Zealand.

Four years ago, Sexton was the unrivalled first choice fly-half, with a young Farrell providing back-up and full-back Stuart Hogg covering the position in the midweek defeat by the Brumbies in an experiment that will not be repeated here in New Zealand, mainly due to the inclusion of a third stand-off in Dan Biggar.

This time around though, Sexton admits it is Farrell, not himself, who is favourite to start the first Test against the All Blacks, even though he was a prominent figure in Ireland’s Six Nations victory over Farrell’s England side that ended their unbeaten run under Eddie Jones.

Asked if Farrell’s recent form poses the biggest challenge to Sexton individually since he first broke into the Ireland side in place of Ronan O’Gara, Sexton said: “I’d say so, yeah. He’s a world-class player. He’s had some great success over the last couple of years, and obviously I know what that feels like having had the same success with Leinster, but probably four years previously.

“He’s obviously coming in as favourite to start somewhere, so it will be up to me to try and prove that I can still play that role.”

The 31-year-old will not let Farrell’s presence distract him though, as well of that of Biggar, who Gatland has been keen to talk up ahead of the tour and who will, injury permitting, get his chance to impress with a start against either the Auckland Blues or the Canterbury Crusaders.

Sexton instead wants to focus on his own ability, working as hard as possible so that if he does miss out on the first XV, or even the matchday squad, when the All Blacks series comes around, he will be happy with himself knowing that he could do no more.

“I can’t get focussed on that, or other players. I’ve got to concentrate on myself and bring the best performances out of myself and see where that gets me. If it’s not good enough well I can live with that, and hopefully it will be good enough.”

Sexton was part of the Ireland side that beat England in March (Getty) (Getty Images)

He added: “There's three of us, rather than two - that's the first thing. It's a challenge to get into the squad. That was my goal at the start of the year, to get into that squad Gats [Warren Gatland] picked.

“That was my first goal and the next one was that the Test team will be picked on form out here, I think, so to try and make as good an impression as I can and try to play to my potential and see where that gets me.

“If that gets me into the team or the squad, or not in the 23, if I did my best I can live with that. It's up to me now just to play to my potential and see where that gets me.”

There have been plenty of questions put to Gatland about the prospect of Sexton starting at fly-half with Farrell outside him at inside centre, as he has done so with George Ford for England over the last 18 months.

Sexton will start the game against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians (Getty)

The noises being made by Gatland though suggest that that combination is not yet an option. Gatland has spoken about trying to find a way to squeeze his best players onto the pitch at the same time, and moving Farrell to 12 may be the best way to get the European Player of the Year into his side, but result in someone like Robbie Henshaw or Jonathan Joseph being forced out of the side.

It’s something that Sexton isn’t too sure about either, and while he got the nod for this weekend’s tour opener against New Zealand Provincial Barbarians on Saturday night, he is yet to receive any notice from the coaching staff that an experiment with Farrell is in the pipeline.

I’ve got to try and make a first impression. All you can do is play your best and see where that gets you

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“I’m not sure. Honestly, you’d have to ask the coaches,” Sexton added. “They haven’t given any hints that Owen will play there really. It’s been three 10s as such. Obviously he’s had some great success with England at 12 but also he’s had great success with Saracens at 10. So maybe they’ll try him there, maybe they won’t; I’m not sure.

“I’ll get a chance on Saturday to play 10 and I’ve got to try and make a first impression. All you can do is play your best and see where that gets you.”

The battle is certainly heating up within the squad, and rightly so, given that whoever comes out the victor to start the first Test will be taking on the World Rugby Player of the Year in Beauden Barrett, and chances like that don’t come around that often at all.