Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

We'll just have to wait and see what level they bring potential sanctions under. Mid range and Sexton could be in trouble.

One thing he has going for him is his clean disciplinary record.

Tbh, I could give a fcuk what happens Sexton or Leinster but I hope it doesn't impact on Ireland during the RWC.

I suppose we could call up Madigan 🤣

Sexton’s Roy Keane moment.

I'm sorry but what an idiot. Jesus Christ. For the last two years of this cycle we've been doing everything we can to keep him fit and in form in recognition of his importance to the team and he puts all that planning and hard work in jeopardy because he's too petulant to keep his mouth shut. That's as stupid and as selfish as you can get. Obviously I hope he gets off lightly but I wonder will the fans and journalists who slated Erasmus be as quick to condemn Sexton. Somehow I doubt it.

have to say i agree. much as from an ireland perspective i hope hes available, from a neutral and fan of the game perspective i hope the book gets throw at him unless he can be proved 100% innocent. too much of this sort of nonsense is creeping into the game, be it fans or players, and it needs to be stamped out before rugby becomes too much like soccer

I wouldn't like to see him stripped but it's a genuine concern. The whole thing is a mess. I'd say Farrell is raging.

Are you seriously trying to compare what Sexton did, to what Erasmus did? They are not even remotely similar. So no I don’t think the people who were quick to call out Erasmus for orchestrating social media campaigns against referees and for making hour long videos criticizing referees. In the cold light of day, not in the immediate heat of a game. Will see Sexton being a dick and saying something (we don’t know what yet) to a referee as being anywhere near the same thing. While still being disappointed in Sexton for being an idiot and bringing both himself and his club into disrepute.

Seriously the disgusting attitude of a certain section of Irish fans being shown up by this, would turn your stomach.

Not close to Rassie but it's pretty unique in it's own right.

Imagine if this was LAR captain after they losing to Leinster in a final, people would be looking for blood. Here we have "not really sure what he's supposed to have done but... "

There's always an argument for someone that lost it in the heat of battle but this time Sexton is one step removed from the particular game and a very senior player who should have much more awareness about what is acceptable and what is not.

In the clip that was floating about it looked like he made two attempts to engage with the officials.

I can't see the IRFU getting involved in this, if they do it will probably be in a non public way ad they can't be seen to condone Sexton's behaviour.

Sexton is alleged to have called the officiating team "a **** disgrace". What's more, he was a non playing member of the club on the day and shouldn't have been anywhere near them. Directly abusing the officiating team like that is far worse than what Erasmus did. Erasmus insinuated incompetency and undermined their authority. Sexton, if what has been alleged is true, directly accused them of incompetency at best (and that's a generous interpretation). You also have to consider that he's one of the most high profile players in the world. It's a terrible look for a player in that kind of position to use abusive language towards officials.

There's also the possible consequences his actions might have on his teammates. Sexton is vital to Ireland's chances at the World Cup. If he's out because of his behaviour then he's let his whole team down. Sexton being on the field is far more important to Ireland than Rassie being in the coach's box is to South Africa.

Only one player that should be captain and its Ringrose.

Is that an elaborate way of saying Ringrose?!

If we're looking at long term captains, I wouldn't be surprised to see Doris in the mix in the next couple of years along with Ryan but it's very hard to know, really.

But I think we need a lot more than that anyway. Leadership takes different forms and I think Ireland (and Leinster) suffers from having multiple quiet people in the team. The likes of Aki and Lowe bring a lot to the field purely through personality if not actual smart decision making and tactical awareness. It's hard to find a player who has the combination of emotional intelligence, tactical awareness and communication ability (both in terms of being vocal during play and able to speak to the referees).

Within the Irish set up, POM and Sexton probably are the closest thing to that. POM more so particularly after Sexton's recent actions. But I don't think there's another within the set up like that. Some have certain elements but not others. Then there have been guys who have the full package like Billy Holland or Ross Molony but they don't have the outright ability to be in the Irish set up.

After the two elder lemons mentioned above, I don't think there's a single guy in the entire squad that jumps out as the obvious captain. It will be Ryan as he's the closest and has shown capacity to develop his style and game so far but it really is a gap in our squad.

Hasn't Peyper said he didn't hear Sexton say anything? If so, what's the evidence against Sexton?

I can't see anything coming of it.

I rate Ringrose as having leadership smarts but I don't think it comes naturally to him in terms of being vocal and being someone everyone turns to in the huddle. From a Leinster perspective, that seems to be far more Ross Byrne/Molony.

Absolutely one for the leadership group but I'd have my doubts about him as a captain in big pressure situations. As far as I know, he was the on field captain for the last 55 minutes against La Rochelle and I don't think he really stepped up there.