IT WAS ALWAYS likely that Johnny Sexton would attract the limelight as he made his first start of the season for Leinster on Saturday against the Sharks.
The 37-year-old Leinster and Ireland captain was excellent in his province’s number 10 jersey, but his interactions with referee Craig Evans grabbed as much attention as his passing and kicking.
Those ref chats were discussed on today’s episode of The42 Rugby Weekly Extra - a podcast available to members of The42 every Monday and Wednesday – as host Gavan Casey was joined by Murray Kinsella and ex-Leinster and Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman.
While agreeing that Sexton could have been a little more respectful, Kinsella felt that there had been an overreaction to the Leinster captain’s interactions with Evans.
“In this game, I think it’s being completely overplayed if I’m being really honest with you,” said The42 rugby writer Kinsella.
“He’s in the game, he’s obviously a really competitive guy and he’s obviously fired up but the ones where he challenges Craig Evans, I think he’s absolutely entitled to challenge.
“In the Ryan Baird instance, he has seen his player landing onto his head and neck from a player who has not taken off and jumped off the ground. That’s what the referee is telling Sexton, that they both got up and competed, which wasn’t actually true. Sexton is trying to forcefully argue his case and apply pressure like a captain should.
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“The other one is the red card, where there were two high tackles in a row. I don’t see how any captain wouldn’t be really pissed off in those circumstances. Sexton actually runs in and you don’t want to always be milling in on things, but if I was on that team, I’d like to see my captain having my back and not accepting a player making two high tackles in one passage of play.
“Yeah, I think he can probably be a little more respectful to Craig Evans there and just treat him with a little more calm potentially. But I think he’s justified in those circumstances to try and push him and try to get the right decision.
“It didn’t happen for Sexton in the Baird instance, the match officials felt Abrahams was going for the ball and I can see it from the referee’s point of view, but it was a really dangerous landing and we’ve seen in the past that it’s the duty of care and whether or not the player on the ground is aware of the guy in the air. On the red card, he’s right to go and push that.
“That aside, I don’t think there was too much else to it. Two flashpoints, maybe a third and his demeanour is a little bit aggressive but I personally think it has been overplayed and I think Sexton has worked really hard on that side of his game and improved it.”
Sexton delivered an excellent try-scoring performance. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
As for Sexton’s individual performance, Casey suggested to Jackman that Sexton may actually be a better player right now than a couple of years ago.
Former Grenoble and Dragons head coach Jackman was full of praise for Sexton’s display as Leinster battled their way through a challenging clash with the Sharks.
“He is like Kevin de Bruyne in terms of being able to pull the right pass,” said Jackman.
“It’s all really easy stuff, it looks really easy because he stays attached out the back of a pod and most of the passes he plays are simple passes, but yet you don’t see any other 10 being able to do it so regularly. The timing of it is phenomenal.
“Also, he’s probably one of the few players where when he seems to be rattled, it doesn’t seem to affect his game and maybe even makes him better. It has zero effect, him getting angsty with the referee or opposition, on his next play.
“If you’re the South Africans now, I think plenty of the fans were fired up with him and probably the Sharks players as well found him very annoying, so if he goes down to South Africa this year, they will try to upset him. There will be late tackles and verbals, etc. but I actually don’t think that will have an impact on his game.
“Leinster got themselves into a muddle against the Sharks and there probably would have been a temptation to play him for 60 minutes but they had a lot of injuries, he went 80 and it was nearly flawless. If Johnny had gone off at 55, the way the game was going, I would have thought Leinster could lose. That’s not a criticism of Ross Byrne because I rate him.
“But I loved the fact it was a battle. I never felt Leinster were going to lose with Johnny on the pitch. They have obviously lost games with him on the pitch before but with the Sharks missing five Boks, he was a level above. It’s testament to his drive that he’s able to come in for his first start and be absolutely brilliant.”
To get access to The42 Rugby Weekly Extra, which comes out every Monday with Gavan Casey, Bernard Jackman, and Murray Kinsella, as well as every Wednesday with Eoin Toolan, become a member of The42 at members.the42.ie.
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
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'I think Sexton is justified to try and push to get the right decision'
IT WAS ALWAYS likely that Johnny Sexton would attract the limelight as he made his first start of the season for Leinster on Saturday against the Sharks.
The 37-year-old Leinster and Ireland captain was excellent in his province’s number 10 jersey, but his interactions with referee Craig Evans grabbed as much attention as his passing and kicking.
Those ref chats were discussed on today’s episode of The42 Rugby Weekly Extra - a podcast available to members of The42 every Monday and Wednesday – as host Gavan Casey was joined by Murray Kinsella and ex-Leinster and Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman.
While agreeing that Sexton could have been a little more respectful, Kinsella felt that there had been an overreaction to the Leinster captain’s interactions with Evans.
“In this game, I think it’s being completely overplayed if I’m being really honest with you,” said The42 rugby writer Kinsella.
“He’s in the game, he’s obviously a really competitive guy and he’s obviously fired up but the ones where he challenges Craig Evans, I think he’s absolutely entitled to challenge.
“In the Ryan Baird instance, he has seen his player landing onto his head and neck from a player who has not taken off and jumped off the ground. That’s what the referee is telling Sexton, that they both got up and competed, which wasn’t actually true. Sexton is trying to forcefully argue his case and apply pressure like a captain should.
“The other one is the red card, where there were two high tackles in a row. I don’t see how any captain wouldn’t be really pissed off in those circumstances. Sexton actually runs in and you don’t want to always be milling in on things, but if I was on that team, I’d like to see my captain having my back and not accepting a player making two high tackles in one passage of play.
“Yeah, I think he can probably be a little more respectful to Craig Evans there and just treat him with a little more calm potentially. But I think he’s justified in those circumstances to try and push him and try to get the right decision.
“It didn’t happen for Sexton in the Baird instance, the match officials felt Abrahams was going for the ball and I can see it from the referee’s point of view, but it was a really dangerous landing and we’ve seen in the past that it’s the duty of care and whether or not the player on the ground is aware of the guy in the air. On the red card, he’s right to go and push that.
“That aside, I don’t think there was too much else to it. Two flashpoints, maybe a third and his demeanour is a little bit aggressive but I personally think it has been overplayed and I think Sexton has worked really hard on that side of his game and improved it.”
As for Sexton’s individual performance, Casey suggested to Jackman that Sexton may actually be a better player right now than a couple of years ago.
Former Grenoble and Dragons head coach Jackman was full of praise for Sexton’s display as Leinster battled their way through a challenging clash with the Sharks.
“He is like Kevin de Bruyne in terms of being able to pull the right pass,” said Jackman.
“It’s all really easy stuff, it looks really easy because he stays attached out the back of a pod and most of the passes he plays are simple passes, but yet you don’t see any other 10 being able to do it so regularly. The timing of it is phenomenal.
“Also, he’s probably one of the few players where when he seems to be rattled, it doesn’t seem to affect his game and maybe even makes him better. It has zero effect, him getting angsty with the referee or opposition, on his next play.
“If you’re the South Africans now, I think plenty of the fans were fired up with him and probably the Sharks players as well found him very annoying, so if he goes down to South Africa this year, they will try to upset him. There will be late tackles and verbals, etc. but I actually don’t think that will have an impact on his game.
“Leinster got themselves into a muddle against the Sharks and there probably would have been a temptation to play him for 60 minutes but they had a lot of injuries, he went 80 and it was nearly flawless. If Johnny had gone off at 55, the way the game was going, I would have thought Leinster could lose. That’s not a criticism of Ross Byrne because I rate him.
“But I loved the fact it was a battle. I never felt Leinster were going to lose with Johnny on the pitch. They have obviously lost games with him on the pitch before but with the Sharks missing five Boks, he was a level above. It’s testament to his drive that he’s able to come in for his first start and be absolutely brilliant.”
To get access to The42 Rugby Weekly Extra, which comes out every Monday with Gavan Casey, Bernard Jackman, and Murray Kinsella, as well as every Wednesday with Eoin Toolan, become a member of The42 at members.the42.ie.
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Johnny Sexton Leinster Referee rugby weekly extra URC