The former Ireland captain detailed the bitter words he exchanged with All Black Rieko Ioane in the moments after his side had come up short in last year’s World Cup quarter-final.
According to Sexton, Ioane first ordered him back 10m after Wayne Barnes had awarded a penalty, before goading the out-half by saying ‘Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c***.’
Sexton responded by calling Ioane a “fake humble f***er”, citing the All Blacks’ ‘No Dickheads’ policy.
The bad blood appears to date back to Ireland’s 2022 series win over New Zealand and a disputed claim about an exchange between Peter O’Mahony and Sam Cane.
And Sexton’s account will add spice to the rivalry ahead of next month’s meeting between the sides at the Aviva Stadium, with former All Black Israel Dagg describing the 2018 World Player of the Year as a “pimple” he can’t get rid of and dismissing his account on a New Zealand radio show.
“Just accept it, mate. Give it a rest,” Dagg said.
“Ireland tend to throw a lot of chat out there because they’re winning in between World Cups, but come World Cups – you just don’t. You don’t win it
“Obviously the comments were pretty harsh and they probably hurt your feelings. But you were retiring.
“People don’t forget when you toured New Zealand and you said some things to our very own All Blacks. They’re going to bottle that up for the big occasions.
“They bottled it up nicely and you guys bottled it over there in the quarter-finals. That’s just the way it goes.’
Dagg believes Sexton misunderstood the All Blacks’ policy, while he also said Ireland reaped what they sewed in the sledging stakes.
“Obviously the comments were pretty harsh and they probably hurt your feelings. But you were retiring,” he added.
“People don’t forget when you toured New Zealand and you said some things to our very own All Blacks. They’re going to bottle that up for the big occasions.
“They bottled it up nicely and you guys bottled it over there in the quarter-finals. That’s just the way it goes.
“We carry ourselves in a way that we don’t want to sound arrogant. We want to show humility a little bit. But when you fire something, you’ve got to expect a return, and that’s what’s happened here.
“(Ioane) is standing up for Sammy Cane and Brodie Retallick. Pete O’Mahony threw out some chat. Well, you just lost the quarter-final – time to go home.”
