Former Leinster captain Brian O’Driscoll has said that Dragons number eight Ross Moriarty may be taking a leaf out of Wales coach Warren Gatland’s book after his comments concerning Johnny Sexton and his perceived preferential treatment from referees.
Moriarty was sin binned for a late tackle on Sexton during the Dragons 52-10 loss to the PRO14 champions last month.
The Welsh backrow felt after the loss that the fly-half would not have received the same punishment that he received if the roles had been reversed.
“Some may say it was harsh, some may say it was fair, but if Johnny did that against me in that game I know for a fact he would not have had anything happen to him,” Moriarty told BBC Wales Scum V programme.
“It’s nice to see little players running around making a fool of big players but when a big player gets hold of a smaller one there’s always a big scene.
“Most players will have had something happen to them if they hit Johnny Sexton off the ball because obviously, he has a big pull in the game these days which is quite sad.”
Johnny Sexton flattened by Ross Moriarty in yellow card late hit
O’Driscoll defended his former teammate and pointed to the unpunished hits that Sexton has taken in the Six Nations over the last few seasons as evidence to suggest that the Ireland fly-half is not protected by referees.
“I don’t know if Ross Moriarty has been looking at some of the footage of Six Nations over the last couple of years,” O’Driscoll told BBC Sport NI.
“He [Sexton] got a little bit of treatment in the England game two years ago. I [also] remember a [Yoann] Maestri hit that went unpunished.
“I don’t know. Ross Moriarty is obviously taking a leaf out of his coach’s [Warren Gatland’s] book and and throwing a hand grenade in there.
“But I don’t think players pay that much attention to what is said. It’s about what you do on the park rather than what you say you are going to do.”
