Johnny Sexton: 'I’m not trying to play the victim'
Johnny Sexton admits the protracted disciplinary process which threatened to ruin his Rugby World Cup dream took a toll on his family but insists he is “not trying to play the victim”.
Ireland’s captain is unsure why he endured such a lengthy wait to discover his fate for “confrontational and aggressive” behaviour towards referee Jaco Peyper.
Almost two months passed between the fly-half’s heated exchange with the South African match official following Leinster’s 27-26 Heineken Champions Cup final loss to La Rochelle on May 20 and him eventually being hit with a three-match ban.
Sexton consequently sat out World Cup warm-up matches against Italy, England and Samoa but is available to start Ireland’s tournament opener against Romania in Bordeaux on September 9.
In the prolonged period when his punishment remained unclear, the 38-year-old, who is set to retire following the competition in France, faced intense speculation and public scrutiny amid calls for a substantial suspension.
“I’ve never seen another process last eight weeks or seven weeks, whatever it was,” said Sexton, who confronted Peyper on the Aviva Stadium pitch, having watched his province’s agonising defeat from the stands due to injury.
“It was incredibly frustrating not knowing what was going to happen. I’m not sure why it took so long, but that’s the way it was handled.
“I think when it affects your family you obviously go, ‘well, why are you upset?’ and (they reply) ‘this happened, this happened, this happened, this happened. Five weeks later, this is still happening’.
“Of course (you are aware of public commentary), but I’m not trying to play the victim.
“I made a mistake and I had to put up with what I had to put up with for seven weeks. You have to face up to your actions and that’s what I did.”
Sexton goes into his World Cup swansong having not played competitively since sustaining a groin issue in helping Ireland clinch a Six Nations grand slam against England on March 18.
His spell on the sidelines through injury and suspension means the 29-16 success over Steve Borthwick’s side was his final professional appearance in his homeland.
The 2018 world player of the year believes the “best guy in the world” meticulously plotted his road to recovery.
“For a kicker, to injure your adductors like I did is not ideal,” said Sexton, who was treated by a Doctor Griffin based in the UK.
“But thankfully the IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) sent me to the best guy in the world.
“He did a great job, he mapped it out for me and he was literally to the day accurate in what he told me in terms of when I could return to training, when I could kick a ball again.
“Thankfully it’s been good over the last number of weeks. Hopefully I will be in good shape come Romania.”
Ireland head to France top of the world rankings on the back of Six Nations glory and last summer’s historic tour triumph in New Zealand.
Andy Farrell’s men also face reigning world champions South Africa, Scotland and Tonga in their group ahead of a potential last-eight clash with either the host nation or the All Blacks.
Asked what gives him confidence of going all the way, Sexton replied: “What we’ve done over the last couple of years.
“I’ve been in groups before where you go to a World Cup and you say we’re here to win it but you don’t often have the achievements to back that up.
“(Whereas) we’ve got things like the grand slam, going to New Zealand and winning a series – stuff that other teams that have won it, like England in 2003 (have achieved).
“We’ve some evidence to give us a little bit of confidence but we also know that it’s the toughest group that we’ve ever had, the toughest quarter-final draw if we can manage to get through our group, so it’s all to do.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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