Johnny Sexton disciplinary: The World Waits

The moment of truth will arrive for Johnny Sexton today as the Ireland captain faces a disciplinary hearing which could see him banned and may even end his career prematurely.

The fly-half had a misconduct complaint lodged against him following his behaviour towards match officials in the wake of his club Leinster's Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle on May 20.

While Sexton did not play in the game at Dublin's Aviva Stadium due to his continued recovery from a groin injury, he went onto the pitch after the defeat and approached South African referee Jaco Peyper and other match officials before allegedly branding them a "f***ing disgrace".

Tournament organiser European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) submitted misconduct complaints against 37-year-old Sexton and Leinster following what it described as a "thorough fact-finding and careful review" of Sexton's actions, and also Leinster for not exercising reasonable control over their player.

Sexton's charges of ‘misconduct’ relating to his behaviour towards those officiating La Rochelle's win over Leinster.

Leinster, meanwhile, are accused of ‘failing to exercise reasonable control’ of their captain who did not play in the game itself.

Announcing the disciplinary, EPCR said: "Misconduct complaints against the Leinster Rugby player, Johnny Sexton, and against Leinster Rugby, arising from the Heineken Champions Cup final on Saturday May 20 2023, have been lodged by EPCR.

"After thorough fact-finding and careful review of Johnny Sexton's behaviour towards match officials after the match, in accordance with EPCR regulations, the EPCR disciplinary officer has submitted misconduct complaints so that an independent disciplinary panel can determine whether any misconduct has been committed by Mr Sexton (through his behaviour) and Leinster (through failing to exercise reasonable control over Mr Sexton)."

Calls for a harsh sentence to be imposed have been made, especially after a no nonsense approach was taken towards South African Director of Sport, Rassie Erasmus. Erasmus

Rassie Erasmus’s reputation was shredded after World Rugby threw the book at the South African for his outburst during the Lions tour and found him guilty of making threats to a referee, resulting in a two month ban from all rugby activities.

Erasmus was faced misconduct charges after his extraordinary 62-minute video was released, shortly after the first Lions Test against the Springboks in 2021, in which he repeatedly criticised the performance of referee Nic Berry. SA Rugby union was also been fined £20,000 for failing to ensure Erasmus complied with World Rugby’s code of conduct.