Jonathan Sexton has been retired from rugby for more than a year, but he and Rieko Ioane will be in attendance for Ireland’s clash with New Zealand this week in Dublin.

Ireland have welcomed Sexton for this autumn series as an unofficial consultant, to advise their three relatively inexperienced fly-halfs. But it is his revelations in his latest autobiography, “Obsessed,” that have revisited the bad blood between the teams.

Sexton’s retirement depended on how well Ireland held out at the Rugby World Cup in France a year ago. Ireland were undefeated, ranked No. 1 and favorites against New Zealand in the quarter-finals in Paris. But the All Blacks won an epic match. 28-24.

New Zealand’s Ioane taunted the Irish crowd and had an angry exchange with Sexton that was not captured by the television broadcast. The Irish media accused Ioane of being classless. Then-All Blacks coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane praised Sexton for his great run while defending their centre, saying he was hot on a high-risk occasion.

Cane added: “Emotions can run high and words are said. “It’s always left out there.”

Until Sexton included them in his book.

According to Sexton, Ioane told him: “Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, (expletive).”

“So much for (the All Blacks) humility,” Sexton wrote. “I walk behind Ioane and call him faux-humble (expletive). It doesn’t look very good that I’m trying one of them right after losing. But I can’t be expected to ignore it.”

Ioane’s only public response was cryptic on social media. He shared a photo of himself and Sexton in the quarterfinals, a wild card above his head, an emoji of the house below Sexton, set to the background of the “In your head” chorus from The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” which has been become the anthem of Irish fans. .

On Friday, Ioane will surely be the focus of the expected ire of Irish fans if he plays at the Aviva Stadium, as expected.

Both players had their followers.

Former Ireland team-mate James Tracy noted that Sexton was famous for his tongue attacks (he was suspended from Ireland’s World Cup preparations last year for abusing referees after the Cup club final). of Europe), but his career deserved respect and a dignified exit. Tracy said Ioane’s comments were “as low as possible.”

Former All Black Israel Dagg backed Ioane. “When you shoot something, you have to expect a return, and that’s what happened here. He defends Sammy Cane and Brodie Retallick. Pete O’Mahony chatted.

When Ireland won a test in New Zealand for the first time in 2022, flanker O’Mahony was heard on the referee’s microphone insulting Cane by saying he was not as good as his predecessor Richie McCaw. Cane didn’t bite and called him ” good rugby jokes.” O’Mahony had more to offer when the Irish won that series, a historic achievement.

The All Blacks never forgot him and, full-time in Paris, Retallick told O’Mahony“Four years plus you (expletive).”

This year, South Africa youth player Eben Etzebeth accused Ireland of being arrogant at the World Cup. Etzebeth said a podcast in April that after the Irish won the pool clash against the Springboks, “you shook hands with the boys and probably 12 of the 23 said to me, ‘See you in the final.’ My immediate thought was: ‘Are these guys really not even thinking about the All Blacks in the World Cup quarter-finals?’ “I just thought these guys were making a big mistake.”

During this year’s Six Nations, before Ireland faced France, Irish hooker Rob Herring called the match “the World Cup final everyone wanted but never got”.

Days after Sexton’s World Cup reveal in September, he told the BBC: “I was a bit surprised by the reaction because I toyed with taking it out (of the book), putting it in, but the reason I put it in was to not give up.” defeated, this is just what happened.

“A certain part of me was just trying to protect myself because after the game I got criticized for my reaction, because people were thinking, ‘Oh, here’s your man being a sore loser again.’ But they didn’t see what it caused me. It was just me who explained why.”

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