The ongoing disciplinary saga involving Ireland captain Johnny Sexton continues to linger, despite several months having passed since the incident that occurred between him and match officials after this year’s Champions Cup final.
Yesterday, Sexton appeared before a panel to address “misconduct complaints” stemming from his behavior towards the match officials following Leinster’s defeat to La Rochelle in the Champions Cup final.
The 38-year-old is believed to have presented a strong defense, and the lack of updates could potentially be seen as positive news for the Ireland fly-half.
Initial expectations were that the disciplinary outcome would be announced within 24 hours of the hearing. However, contrary to those expectations, multiple reports indicate that the decision will not be made public today.
Ie42 Murray Kinsella, a reputable source, tweeted: “No update from Johnny Sexton case today. The independent disciplinary committee is still reviewing the details before reaching a final decision.”
This update suggests that the verdict is not straightforward, and Sexton’s chances of avoiding a lengthy ban may be more favorable than they were at this time yesterday.
The disciplinary hearing, which took place on Thursday, was chaired by Christopher Quinlan KC. Adam Casselden SC and Marcello D’Orey were also part of the panel.
Andy Farrell included in controversial worst ever England XV
RUCK looks at the worst players to have ever pulled on a shirt for the Red Rose.
First of all, we have to say that to play for England you have to be a very good player – but these players, for one reason or another, never quite performed as they would have liked in the famous white jersey.
This team was inspired and partly taken from Mike Cooper’s origional blog on RuckedOver.
Fullback: Mark Van Gisbergen
Yes, he has a cap – only a fleeting one, as a late replacement for Mark Cueto against Australia in 2005 – but he does boast a 100% winning ratio in international colours, so you can’t knock that.
His main strengths were dropping the high ball under limited pressure and getting gassed on the outside.
Winger: Barrie-Jon Mather
He became the first player to represent Great Britain in Rugby League and England in Union. His move to union was part funded by the RFU, who were embarking on a strategy of converting some of leagues best talent.
However, Mather struggled to make an impact with Sale and moved back to Castleford in 2000. In spite of his poor form with Sale, Clive Woodward gave Mather his debut against Wales in the famous Grand Slam decider in 1999. However, Mather never played for England again after Wales won the game 32-31, following Scott Gibbs’ superb try.
Fly-half: Andy Farrell
Embed from Getty ImagesCentre: Sam Burgess
England, who fast-tracked Burgess into their World Cup squad in defiance of logic, Bath and the player himself each shoulder varying degrees of blame for arguably the greatest cross-code flop in history. We’re not saying he was an awful player, but the whole thing was a complete disaster.
Winger: Lesley Vanikolo
The Volcano’ stormed onto the scene for Gloucester, doing something ridiculous like scoring five tries on his debut against Leeds, before qualifying for England on residency grounds. International honours followed, with Vainikolo making his England debut against Wales in 2008. However, he failed to bring his try-scoring form to the international scene and was quickly dropped from Martin Johnston’s squad after winning five caps.