Leader.

Ireland outhalf Johnny Sexton has admitted he may not still be captain when the season eventually resumes.

Sexton was named as the new Ireland captain at the start of the year, replacing the recently retired Rory Best, but it appears he might just be filling on on a short-term basis.

Speaking on Off The Ball, Sexton said Farrell offered him the role on a one campaign basis and that it may come under review now that the season has been indefinitely suspended.

“Andy Farrell had spoken to me before the Six Nations,” Sexton said

“We talked about it [captaincy] being a one campaign thing. So, I’m not sure what he’ll do going forward whether he’ll go with someone else or whether he thinks I’ve done a good job.

“If it is someone else I’ll get in behind them and if it is me I’ll try to improve and help the team as best as I can.”

Sexton has come under fire in recent months regarding the captaincy, with Ronan O’Gara among those to suggest that an outhalf has enough responsibility and shouldn’t be skipper and those comments haven’t gone unnoticed.

“I see some of it [the criticism], I don’t see it all and often you might just be walking down in Carton House and you see a headline and suddenly the chimp in you attacks,” Sexton added.

“Whereas maybe what is in the article isn’t too bad at all. So, that can be tough.

“[But] you don’t expect past players and teammates to defend you or stick up for you when it isn’t warranted, it is clear that I had a poor game against England by my standards.

“You do expect past players not to jump on the bandwagon of my being the captain is too much, however. It wasn’t [too much] in the other four games that I did it, so why is it this time?”