Owen Doyle: Johnny Sexton has only himself to blame and was handed a light-touch sentence

Of course it’s a shame that Johnny Sexton will not have a valedictory match at the Aviva, and the blame for that lies only with himself. However, and even the dogs in the street know it: he was, in fact, handed a light-touch sentence, he’s a very lucky man.

And so, in a way, we are all lucky, relieved that he can take his place in the World Cup, a vital cog in the efforts to go further than Ireland have ever gone before, maybe the whole way.

There is, though, a sense that Sexton is fortunate not to have been kicking his heels for longer with the tournament just around the corner following his verbals to the match officials at the conclusion of the Champions Cup final.

There is also a real sense that the suspension falls far short of what was necessary to meet the seriousness of the misconduct and to send out the correct deterrent signal to all levels of the game, despite the panel’s own unsurprising view that the sanction is proportionate. That asks an obvious question, what level of misconduct would earn a stiffer sentence?

The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times

---

What has David Nucifora ever done for Irish rugby?

---

The Counter Ruck: Does rugby need the 20-minute red card?

---

Johnny Watterson: Is this Ireland team in danger of flattering to deceive?

---

Recruitment and retention of referees is a hard enough job, and verbal abuse plays a large part, so we could do without the Leinster captain laying into them.

The judicial panel, under the chairmanship of Christopher Quinlan KC, applied a minimal suspension of just three matches, despite Sexton being found guilty of words and actions which were “confrontational, aggressive, and disrespectful.” Additionally, his conduct was deemed as “unsportsmanlike, and brought the game into disrepute.”

That’s some haul, very damning findings, even though their lordships will have known the import for Ireland, and for the tournament, if such an iconic player was to miss out.

Let’s have a look at some aspects of the full judgment which runs to all of 36 pages – it must be one of the longest on record.

The first thing is that it fails completely to tie down exactly what Sexton said. “Mr Sexton does not remember the exact words he used when he addressed the match officials, he believes he used an expletive, before saying something along the lines of ‘it’s a disgrace you can’t get the big decisions right.’”

[ Johnny Sexton in line for training session run against Portugal as Ireland head for the heat ]

[ Paul O’Connell looking to the positives from Johnny Sexton’s suspension ]

The judgment also states that Sexton could not recall how many, or which, expletives he used, though it “most likely included the f-word.” I’ll bet.

The match officials repeated the words aggressive and confrontational, so nothing illuminating there. Then, surprisingly, they added that they could not hear what Sexton said, due to the noise in the stadium. For that, the captain can thank his lucky stars, and also unprecedented decibel levels.

Sexton was indicted on three charges – when he first approached the referee team; at the medal ceremony; and as the officials left the pitch.

Very puzzlingly, not on the charge sheet was his venting to the affable Tony Spreadbury, head of EPCR match officials, who reported that he, too, had been sprayed by Sexton. “Sprayed” being the strange terminology adopted for such verbal attacks.

Spreadbury also advised that Sexton had apologised, and that this apology was personal to him, as he had not been asked to convey it to the officials; while Sexton considered that it was inclusive of them. In trying to mitigate his behaviour they, surely, should have been the first to get a call.

If the Spreadbury “spraying” had been included, it would have been hellishly hard to land on just a three-week suspension. In the event, Sexton was found guilty on the first two counts, which were deemed “linked,” and not culpable on the third. For the last, he can thank assistant referee, Christophe Ridley, who reported that Sexton was more measured at this point, the stadium noise evidently having diminished by then.

[ Johnny Sexton given three match ban ruling him out of Ireland’s World Cup warm up games ]

The judgment, without specifying how the three-match ban was calculated, refers to the absolute seriousness of the matter, and then declares that “even with the maximum mitigation which we give JS, the shortest suspension we can impose is one of three matches. But for mitigation it would have been twice that length.”

Perhaps this incident has been an accident in-waiting. For too long referees have indulged Sexton, and, indeed, other players across the world of professional rugby. The acceptance of ill-tempered aggressive questioning, shouting and arm waving, have not received the immediate on-pitch sanctions which are sorely needed.

There is little doubt that some referees are in awe of, even intimidated by, these players. The continued use of first names, in an attempt to show some sort of (faux) friendship, has done nothing but blur the essential line of authority, and has not earned one jot of respect, which, of course, was non-existent in this case.

Finally, the judgment includes the memorable information that Sexton will not attend a referee course as part of his punishment, which has been applied before – we are told it would serve no useful purpose. Quite.

But he might consider completing a captaincy course, to learn how to keep the undoubted positive elements of his leadership, and dump what can only lead to trouble for him, and for his team. No player is bigger than the game.