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10th October 2024
10:26am BST
Johnny Sexton has expressed his shock at the controversy surrounding the content of his book, and explained the reason behind his recalling of a feud with New Zealand star Rieko Ioane.
Over a week ago, The Times published a piece from Obsessed: The Autobiography over the weekend which included details of an exchange Sexton had with Ioane after Ireland’s 2023 World Cup quarter final defeat to the All Blacks in Paris.
The 39-year-old, who was playing his last ever international game before retirement that night, slammed New Zealand’s “famous ‘no d***heads’ policy” and revealed what Ioane said to him on the pitch after the final whistle had gone.
"As I stand there, hands on hips, staring in disbelief at Barnes, Rieko Ioane still comes up to me and tells me, 'Get back ten metres'," Sexton wrote.
"‘Penalty,’ he says. ‘Back ten.’ And then, after Barnes blows the final whistle, he says, ‘Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c***.’"
He added: "So much for the All Blacks’ famous ‘no d***heads’ policy. So much for their humility. I walk after Ioane and call him a fake-humble f****r. It doesn’t look great, me having a go at one of them just after we’ve lost. But I can’t be expected to ignore that."
After the excerpt had been published, both Ioane and Israel Dagg hit back at the former Leinster fly-half.
"Give it a rest. Just accept it, mate," said Dagg.
"Ireland tend to throw a lot of chat out there because they’re winning in between World Cups, but come World Cups – you just don’t. You don’t win it.
"Obviously the comments were pretty harsh and they probably hurt your feelings. But you were retiring," he added.
"People don’t forget when you toured New Zealand and you said some things to our very own All Blacks. They’re going to bottle that up for the big occasions.
"They bottled it up nicely and you guys bottled it over there in the quarter-finals. That’s just the way it goes."
27-year-old Ioane, on the other hand, posted an image of his on-field spat with Sexton during last year’s World Cup quarter final, soundtracked by the song Zombie from Limerick band The Cranberries.
The clip appeared to imply that Ioane was inside Sexton’s head with the lyrics "in your head, in your head" featuring prominently.
Ioane also included a joker emoji above Ioane and a home emoji below Sexton, referencing that New Zealand had just knocked Ireland out of the tournament in Sexton’s final game.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5's Rugby Union Weekly programme earlier this week, Sexton admitted: "I do care, like I do care. "But the most important is you, like you said, your teammates or the people in your country.
"I was a bit shocked by the reaction to that because I toyed with taking it out, putting it in, but the reason I put it in was not giving out like, this is just what happened."
He continued: "A certain part of me was just trying to protect because I got criticised after the game for my reaction, because people thought, 'Oh, here’s your man being a sore loser again.' But they didn’t see what set me off. It was just me explaining why.
"I remember texting Joe (Schmidt) after the game and I said, “Look, I know it looked bad me chasing your man after the final whistle but this is what happened, I’m sorry for my reaction."
"That’s the only reason I put it in," Sexton added. "I didn’t do it to kick things off… I don’t really mind that it happened, you know what I mean, this is just why I reacted.
"That’s why, through the book really, it’s sort of just explaining at that moment, this is what I thought."
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