Johnny Sexton: 'I’m not trying to play the victim. I made a mistake'

Sunday's appearance at the top table for Ireland’s World Cup squad announcement was Sexton's first time in a media setting since receiving his suspension

BACK: Johnny Sexton at Ireland's World Cup Squad Announcement at the Shelbourne Hotel. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

The irony of Johnny Sexton being banned for three matches because of something he said shouldn’t be lost.

The Ireland captain has long earned a reputation as a firebrand, his testy relationships with referees all too apparent down the years, but this is a man who has found the perfect words time and again in his time as a player.

Yesterday’s appearance at the top table for Ireland’s World Cup squad announcement was his first time in a media setting since receiving that suspension on the back of his heated exchange with officials after Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup final loss to La Rochelle.

You could argue that the IRFU should have made him available to speak about the issue earlier, rather than let it overshadow such an occasion as this, but his take on his difficult summer and the long-drawn out disciplinary process was pretty much note perfect.

Was he contrite? Yes. Frustrated with it? You betcha.

“Well, of course. I’ve never seen another process last eight weeks or seven weeks, whatever it was. So, 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. It doesn’t really matter what I think, I got my suspension and I’ve had to just sit it out, and that’s it.”

He had accepted his culpability by that point, holding his hands up for his heat-of-the-moment input on the Aviva Stadium pitch last May, and explaining how he had regretted the act more or less instantly.

That the whole episode was testing was obvious. There was no attempt to seek clarity on why the chapter took so long to play out but there was a clear annoyance at what he termed “some of the stuff thrown at me” by the commentariat.

“Yeah, I think when it affects your family you obviously go, ‘Why are you upset?’ This happened, this happened, this happened, this happened. But still, five weeks later, this is still happening.

“Of course [you are aware], 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.”

He was already injured by the time he approached Jaco Peyper after that devastating loss in Dublin three months ago. It’s March since he last played now, his last appearance cut short with what he described here as an adductor injury suffered against England.

It’s the type of injury that is all the more serious for a kicker but the IRFU set their talisman up with a leading specialist in the UK and his prognosis and estimated recovery and return-to-action predictions have been accurate almost to the day.

Sexton will return to action next Saturday week when Ireland open their World Cup account against Romania in Bordeaux. It won’t be the first time he has looked to hit the ground running after a long lay-off. Can it be the same now at the ripe old age of 38?

“Time will tell, when I get the chance to play. If I get a chance to play, I have to show it. I have to show it in training over the next couple of weeks and then… I’ll be motivated to do so. We’ll see in a couple of weeks.”