The Ireland captain and Leinster were hit with misconduct complaints after the Champions Cup final:
EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE only in their third week of pre-season training together, tomorrow is an important day for Ireland’s World Cup campaign.
The disciplinary officer then made formal complaints, meaning the independent panel at tomorrow’s hearing must decide whether Sexton, “through his behaviour” committed misconduct. The complaint against Leinster is “through failing to exercise reasonable control” over Sexton. The panel is made up of England’s Christopher Quinlan, Adam Casselden of Australia, and Portugal’s Marcello D’Orey. Their decision could have a telling impact on Ireland’s World Cup preparations. Sexton’s Leinster career is now over, so any ban will only affect his Ireland swansong.
The looming question is how long a suspension Sexton could face if he is found guilty of misconduct. There is no exact precedent, but there have been a few cases relating to players’ and coaches’ behaviour towards or words about match officials. South African boss Rassie Erasmus was banned from all rugby for two months and being involved in matches for 10 months for his hour-long video critiquing the performance of referee Nic Berry during the 2021 Lions tour.Erasmus was then given a two-match ban last year for posting tweets that were perceived to be critical of referees. Earlier this year, Exeter’s Jack Nowell was fined £10,000 for a Twitter post questioning a decision made by referee Karl Dickson. Nowell avoided a ban.
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