I won it all with Ireland and was named player of the year – now I work for a packaging company on six-figure salary

AN IRISH fable has swapped rugby pitches for boardroom pitches successful his lucrative caller career.

Johnny Sexton won everything but the World Cup during his clip arsenic Ireland's fly-half, racking up 118 caps and 1,108 points.

He has 5 Six Nations winner's medals - including 3 Grand Slams - and featured successful 2 British & Irish Lions tours.

Sexton, 39, was named World Rugby Player of the Year successful 2018 past hung up his boots and retired past twelvemonth aft captaining his state astatine the World Cup, losing to New Zealand 28-24 successful the quarter-finals.

But helium has recovered his feet successful a precise antithetic occupation already, having turned down a coaching gig with his nationalist team.

That is due to the fact that Sexton is raking it successful earning a six-figure wage arsenic the Chief of Staff for Ardagh Group, a Luxembourg-based institution that describes itself arsenic a planetary supplier of recyclable metallic and solid packaging.

The institution has 63 accumulation facilities dispersed crossed the globe, 20,000 employees and a gross exceeding £7.2billion.

The rugby ace started moving astatine the concern part-time successful April 2021 during his playing days but is present each successful for his caller role.

Sexton - who has a Bachelor of Commerce grade from University College Dublin - told ex-footballers Alan Brazil and Gabriel Agbonlahor connected talkSPORT: "I've got a full-time job.

"We're rugby players. We're not similar you boys, get to enactment our feet up. We don't gain the wealth you guys do.

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"It's a packaging company. I'm connected the commercialized broadside of that.

"It's been eye-opening. A batch of learning, a monolithic transition. But I'm enjoying it arsenic well.

"I'm enjoying trying to bash thing caller and effort to marque myself successful that situation and truly situation myself. It's challenging."

Sexton besides runs his ain JAS Management and Promotions Ltd company, which recorded profits of much than £2.4million successful 2022.

But contempt keeping himself engaged successful his caller roles, the Ireland leader is inactive adjusting to beingness distant from the grooming crushed and matchdays successful stadiums.

Sexton added: "It's precise tough, isn't it?

"It's a monolithic transition. I've heard the phrase, 'Sports radical dice twice', erstwhile once their vocation finishes and past evidently erstwhile it comes to the end.

"It was a pugnacious time. It was a precise surreal clip due to the fact that you've feared this infinitesimal for specified a agelong time, and past it was there.

"It was a spot similar you're connected your own. Everyone's disconnected doing enactment oregon each of your ex-team-mates are going to training.

"You're going, 'What americium I going to bash with myself?'

"I had two-and-a-half months earlier I started a caller job.

"But those two-and-a-half months were astir apt the toughest due to the fact that you person nary operation to your life, nary routine, you don't truly cognize what to bash with yourself.

"You tin lone play truthful overmuch golf."