Heineken Cup final 2012: Johnny Sexton ready to show he belongs on rugby's biggest stage The 26 year-old epitomises new-age Leinster, a far cry from the province that lived in the shadow of Munster throughout much of the last decade. He is bright, shrewd, confident, and undaunted by difficulty. He turned around his side's fortunes in last season's dramatic final at the Millennium Stadium and was instrumental in grasping the nettle in the semi-final. All this he does as a matter of rote at Leinster. With Ireland, things are trickier. It's been something of a mystery why Sexton has not yet quite cemented his role as the pre-eminent outside-half for the national side. In part, the splendid cussedness of Ronan O'Gara, the ageing Munsterman's refusal to acknowledge the dying of the light, is a factor. And, in part, therefore there must be a fault line in Sexton's own make-up that does not allow him to express himself with the same authority when wearing the green of his country as opposed to the blue of his province. Saturday afternoon's occasion will be grand enough in its own right. But if there is to be increased fascination in various sideshows, then one of them will be seeing if Sexton can deliver the sort of assured performance that might, just might, springboard him into that No 10 Ireland jersey for keeps. It's about time it happened. "I know that there's a perception there I play better for Leinster than I do for Ireland," admitted Sexton. It took a while with Leinster as well, you know, and there have been good days with Ireland, too. It can take a while to click. With such an array of Irish talent on view, it'll be an intriguing spectacle, too, for national coach Declan Kidney. How does he get the best from these blokes, blue-chip performers on the provincial stage, less assured in national rep? Certainly, Stuart Lancaster gets more from his inexperienced mob than Kidney has managed this season. Sexton has many fine attributes. If rock-hard tackling was not the most prominent of them it became so in Bordeaux, Sexton's line-saving hit on Clermont's hulking Canadian lock, Jamie Cudmore, during that frenzied finale was Wilkinsonesque. "That was phenomenal," said Leinster coach, Joe Schmidt. To stop someone the size of Cudmore... well. Jonny is our general, the guy running the game. He's been excellent in that regard. Add in his kicking, too. At goal, he's around 90 per cent, while his touch-finders are massively long. Sexton downplays his own significance, content to be part of a coordinated whole in which the spadework done by the likes of props Cian Healy and Mike Ross is as important as any theatrical flourish he may contribute. Certainly Leinster are a more complete package than they were even when winning their first Heineken Cup in 2009. "We've learnt a lot along the way, from when the scrum fell apart against Toulouse two years ago and Cian went away with the rest of the forwards determined that it wouldn't happen again," said Sexton. The boys got slaughtered for that and you can see how they've improved. Leinster is not just about the backs, you know? That much has been shown this season, and certainly the forward battle will be an area of enormous significance today. Sexton will have to make best use of whatever he gets, confident that if it goes well that he can launch his back-line in the manner that he did against Cardiff Blues in the quarter-final with a show of dazzling invention and clarity, and if not, then he can help chisel the sort of knuckle-biting victory seen against Clermont. "You do what it takes because that's the game," said Sexton. That's how it will be against Ulster. Being favourites doesn't matter. Previous records don't matter. It's about getting it right on the day. In that regard, Sexton is a master.