Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton (born 11 July 1985) is an Irish former professional rugby union player who played as a fly-half and captained the Ireland national team from 2019 until 2023.

He also represented the British & Irish Lions on their 2013 and 2017 tours, and has scored over 1,100 points in his international career, making him one of the highest points-scorers in rugby union history.

[4][5] Sexton became the 106th player to captain Ireland when he led the team out at their 2019 World Cup 3rd Pool A group match at the Kobe Misaki Stadium in Japan on 3 October 2019.

[6] In his formative years, Sexton played mini rugby with Bective Rangers in Donnybrook, Dublin, the club of his father who is a long-standing member.

Contepomi's cruciate ligament injury ruled him out for the rest of Leinster's campaign; he signed with French giants Stade Francais the following season.

[10] Upon recovering from a hand injury sustained during the Ireland–South Africa autumn international fixture in 2009, Sexton helped Leinster to secure a bonus point win over Brive in the Heineken Cup to take command of their pool.

This secured Leinster a home advantage in the Heineken Cup quarter finals and knocked the Exiles out of the competition.

In 2010, Sexton played six games for Ireland, scoring 37 points in matches against England, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia.

Jonathan Sexton kicked three conversions and three penalties for a 15-point haul as Leinster became the first team since Leicester Tigers in 2002 to successfully defend the Heineken Cup.

He spent a portion of the season sidelined due to injury, allowing his understudy Ian Madigan to play at outside half.

It was announced that Sexton would leave Leinster at the end of the season to join Racing Metro, as he had failed to agree terms with the IRFU, despite his outspoken intent to remain in a blue jersey for the remainder of his career.

In Sexton's first year as a non-Leinster player, Racing Metro struggled to impose itself as a force in Europe, as they failed to qualify from the group stages of the Heineken Cup.

Following speculation during the summer of 2014, Sexton announced in September 2014 that he had signed a contract to bring him back to Leinster for the 2015–16 season until at least November 2019.

Leinster finished the season without a trophy, losing in the Pro-12 final to fellow Irish province Connacht and failing to make it out of their group in Europe.

[23] Sexton was selected as part of the Ireland squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship, but sustained a fractured thumb shortly beforehand whilst playing for Leinster.

Sexton won his first cap for Ireland in the test against Fiji at the RDS in Dublin on 21 November 2009 scoring 16 points (five conversions and two penalty goals), kicking seven from seven in extremely difficult weather conditions and winning man of the match with his impressive international debut.

[25][26] On 24 November 2009, Sexton was selected ahead of fly-half Ronan O'Gara in Ireland's autumn international against World Cup champions South Africa at Croke Park.

Sexton was named in Ireland's squad for the 2010 Summer Tests, coming off the bench to replace O'Gara against New Zealand.

Sexton was named Six Nations Man of the Match following his role in Ireland's successful attempt to stop England's hunt for a Grand Slam that year.

Despite worries of a thumb injury hindering his participation midway through the competition, Sexton competed in every game, losing only one to England at Twickenham.

He played in the second game against France on 14 February and scored 15 points as Ireland won 18–11, after the first-half, he was taken off temporarily due to sudden bleeding.

[34][35] Ireland went on to win the Grand Slam, the third in their history,[36] with Sexton being a key player starting all 5 games, contributing 44 total points.

[4][5] Sexton became the 106th player to captain Ireland when he led the team out at their 2019 Rugby World Cup 3rd Pool A Group match at the Kobe Misaki Stadium in Japan on Thursday, 3 October 2019.

He played the opening game against Wales, but had to be subbed off for Ross Byrne due to a head collision with Liam Williams.

[48] During Ireland's second game against Tonga, Sexton broke Ronan O'Gara's record for the most points scored by an Irish player in international rugby.

[52] On 14 October, Sexton played the full 80 minutes in the last game of his career as Ireland lost 24–28 to New Zealand in the quarterfinals.

[53] As a result of his performances for club and country, Sexton was selected to play for the 2013 British & Irish Lions in their tour to Australia.

[54] Despite the broken wrist and a rupture to his ankle tendon sustained during the first half, Sexton played 73 minutes of the third test before being replaced by Ben Te'o.

[54][55] In October 2024, it was announced that Sexton would return to the Ireland setup on a consultancy basis to work with the out-halves for the Autumn Nations Series.

[61] Sexton has been a key figure to Irish and club rugby due to both his defensive play and his impactful passing when in attack.