JOHNNY SEXTON WILL be free to play at the Rugby World Cup after he was hit with a three-match misconduct ban.
Sexton’s suspension rules him out of all three of Ireland’s World Cup warm-up matches against Italy, England and Samoa, but he will be free to play again from 27 August.
The Ireland out-half and Leinster Rugby were both charged with misconduct by European Professional Club Rugby in the aftermath of Leinster’s Champions Cup defeat to La Rochelle at the end of May.
Sexton, who was injured and not part of the matchday squad, remonstrated with referee Jaco Peyper and the match officials following the defeat in the Aviva Stadium.
Both cases were heard by a three-person independent disciplinary panel in a lengthy hearing on Thursday.
“Johnny Sexton admitted misconduct,” the committee said in a statement issued on Sunday night.
“The disciplinary committee found his behaviour confrontational and aggressive towards and disrespectful of the match officials, it included his pointing his finger at them and shouting at them something to this effect: ‘It’s a disgrace you guys can’t get the big decisions right’ probably accompanied by expletives ‘most likely the f-word’.
“His conduct was obviously unsportsmanlike and brought the sport of rugby union into disrepute.”
It added: “The disciplinary committee concluded that the appropriate and proportionate sanction was an immediate suspension of three matches.”
Ireland’s World Cup warm-up schedule sees them host Italy (5 August) and England (19 August) in the Aviva Stadium before playing Samoa in Bayonne on 26 August.
Sexton will miss all three of those games while he serves his suspension but will be available to return to action when Ireland open their Rugby World Cup Pool B campaign against Romania on 9 September.
In its full written reasons, which run to 36 pages, the committee ruled that “there is a good deal of genuine mitigation”, including Sexton’s early admission of misconduct, an ‘excellent’ disciplinary record, and an apology which he made EPCR Head of Match Officials Tony Spreadbury in a phone call in the days following the match.
“Even with the maximum mitigation which we give [Sexton], the shortest suspension we can impose is one of three matches. But for his mitigation it would have been twice that length.”
As Sexton’s suspension can only take account of ‘meaningful’ matches, the committee had to consider a submission from Ireland head coach Andy Farrell regarding the likely extent of Sexton’s involvement in the World Cup warm-ups.
Farrell stated that Sexton would be involved in all three games since he has been “out of the game through injury since the 18th March 2023 [and] we feel that this would be the minimum number of games that he will need to be match fit for the start of the Rugby World Cup”.
The committee noted:
“A consequence of our decision is that he will not play again professionally in Ireland. But, if fit, he will be available for selection for the Rugby World Cup.“Neither consequence was relevant. We imposed a sanction proportionate to his misconduct.”
Leinster Rugby have been handed a suspended £7500 fine after the committee upheld the misconduct complaint against them for failing to control Sexton.
“Having regard to the limited extent to which it was at fault and relevant mitigation, the disciplinary committee concluded that the appropriate penalty was a fine in the sum of £7500, suspended until the end of the 2023/24 EPCR season,” the statement read.
“If Leinster commits another act of misconduct before the end of the 2023/24 EPCR season it must pay that sum in full.”
Sexton, Leinster Rugby and EPCR all have the right to appeal the committee’s decisions, but must lodge any appeal before 4pm on Wednesday.
