Johnny Sexton could potentially miss some of Ireland’s World Cup matches after being hit with a misconduct letter following his actions in the Champions Cup final.
The fly-half has reportedly been accused of three counts of misconduct following Leinster’s loss to La Rochelle last month.
Sexton wasn’t playing, but the 37-year-old still clashed with officials afterwards – with the fly-half alleged to have mouthed obscenities towards South African referee Jaco Peyper and his English assistants Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley.
City A.M. report that the officials were asked for witness statements, with at least one describing Sexton’s actions as intimidating.
It’s reported that Leinster received the letter last week. So far, European Professional Club Rugby have declined to comment on any misconduct letter.
Sexton was also accused of being part of an alleged row between players and coaches from both teams in the tunnel at half-time, but it’s reported that there’s unlikely to be any major repercussions from that particular incident.
How long Sexton could be banned for is unclear, with one of Pau’s coaches, Sebastien Piqueronies, banned for 10 weeks after grabbing Scottish referee Sam Grove-White earlier this year.
While a similar ban seems unlikely, a severe punishment could rule Sexton out of some of Ireland’s warm-up games. Having not played since March due to injury, that wouldn’t be ideal preparation for Andy Farrell’s side.
Depending on when the ban was started and how many games it might span, it could even see the fly-half miss matches in France later this year.
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