There was not much wrong with Scott Williams’ initial tackle but it was the follow-up by James Davies that really stung.
‘The Leinster Loop’ or ‘The Sexton Loop’. Call it what you will but it has been a move that has brought great success to Leinster and Ireland for the best part of a decade now. Johnny Sexton is the master of it but the likes of Brian O’Driscoll have used it before and Joey Carbery has it down pat himself.
50 minutes into the Guinness PRO14 final between Leinster and Scarlets, and Sexton pulled the set-play trigger again. On this occasion, Scarlets centre Scott Williams was waiting for it/him.
Sexton had been rattled by Williams and hit late by Rhys Patchell in the first half but it fell within standard treatment meted out to talented out-halves in the big leagues. The impact early in the second half had a little more intent and Davies joining in for good measure.
Following Leinster’s 40-32 victory at the Aviva Stadium, Sexton spoke with The Hard Yards about that incident [from 12:30 below] and his emphatic response to it.
Asked about Williams’ two hits (the second involving Davies tackling him as he fell to the ground) being “borderline”, Sexton told us:
“Ah I’m not sure. You’d have to ask the referees who were out on the pitch. I’ve got to get on with the game.Â
“Look, it does get on top of me sometimes and it is something – and I know I keep saying it – that I have to get better at. Like I said, I have to move on. I don’t worry about it after the games.”
Sexton and Conor Murray, his Ireland teammate, were accused of playing up hits or on-field incidents to referees by former England star Austin Healey earlier this season. At the weekend, it was a slew of Welsh fans taking aim at the outhalf for what they felt was special treatment he receives.
https://twitter.com/tomr0b/status/1000463549641129984
Just checked the rugby lawbook on that Scott Williams tackle:
"In accordance with law 121.6 b, defensive players must not tackle Johnny Sexton in a manner that may hurt him.
A penalty kick will be awarded to the attacking team if this takes place. "#LEIvSCA
— Rhys Williamsï®· (@RhysWilliamsTV) May 26, 2018
Scott Williams tackle on Sexton pen?? If it's high an to the head its a red!! If it's a high tackle its a yellow!! If it's contact to the head Sexton has 2 have a "hia"!! So the ref give a pen for tackling to hard!! #touchrugbynext @scarlets_rugby @IntRugbyPlayers
— Dewi Winstone (@dwinst7) May 26, 2018
And that is just a taste of the reaction on the Williams hits. Sexton had quite a bit of chat with the Wales international during the match. After he was double-teamed by Williams and Davies, there were some strong verbals between the Leinster 10 and several Scarlets players.
In the end, Sexton’s response with the ball in hand was more cutting than any of his verbal tirade as he received treatment.
Referee Stuart Berry awarded the penalty to Leinster and Sexton pinged his kick within five metres of the Scarlets tryline. James Ryan caught the lineout, Leinster made hay with their rolling maul and Cronin crashed over.
Sexton was loving every second of it. As Cronin celebrated with his pack-mates, Sexton fetched the ball and walked backwards towards the twenty-two staring down the down-beat Scarlets. A big grin on his face.
Not only did he rub that score in, he added the conversion from the touchline to make it 28-11. Surely there was no kick he enjoyed more than that?
“I went for that [Scarlets] corner and I got a little bit lucky as the breeze was… it was a tough or a hard breeze but it was moving the ball a little bit at times. You’d have seen with my kicks, I didn’t strike a couple of them quite right but the wind actually helped me with a couple.
“The wind helped me with that one. It touched the line and we managed to score from it.”
Former Leinster and Ireland teammate Kevin McLaughlin notes that Sexton ‘has this ability to be absolutely fired up and unbelievably physical but icy in his execution’.
So it proved in the PRO14 final. Moments after getting into an argument with half the Scarlets team, as he received treatment for a couple of hard hits, Sexton composed himself and hit a ballsy kick to the corner that paid off.
I witnessed all of this from high up in the Aviva Stadium stands but, watching back on the TV footage, the cameras missed a moment a couple of minutes after that Cronin try that completely vindicated Sexton.
In a break in play, Davies (the Scarlets No.7) jogged up to Sexton, shook his hand and patted him on the back. Sexton nodded back, thankful for the gesture.
Not only had Sexton been awarded the penalty by Stuart Berry, Davies had acknowledged that his fierce tackle had been slightly off too.
Some fans claim that Sexton is too soft and gets an easy run of it from referees. On Saturday, not for the first time, he proved that to be nonsense on his way to guiding his team to the double.
