He is known for not being afraid to air his opinions, whether on the rugby field or not.
Indeed, it almost landed Johnny Sexton in a spot of bother with Richard Hibbard on a Lions tour back in the day when he upbraided the then Ospreys player in the manner of a schoolteacher telling off a disobedient child. Hibbard had made the mistake of messing up one of the plays.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still, some of those present at the incident in 2013 would later recall, with the tough, abrasive Welsh hooker unused to being publicly scalded. “It takes a brave man to do that, because Hibbs has a short fuse and could easily have knocked him out,” Adam Jones remembered in his book, Bomb. “I could see his eyes narrowing into a stare, which is a sure-fire sign that the red mist is descending.”
Fortunately, the incident blew over as quickly as it threatened to blow up. You can read about the day Sexton tore apart Wales star in front of team-mates here and how he almost paid the price
Anyway, fast-forward to the RDS in Dublin on Saturday and Sexton’s direct nature was to the fore again.
Leinster forward Ryan Baird had landed awkwardly on his head and neck after an aerial collision with Sharks wing Thaakir Abrahams following a diagonal kick from Sexton. Baird was subsequently removed from the field of play after a lengthy check by the medical staff.
Welsh referee Craig Evans ruled no foul play had occurred, saying that Abrahams and fellow Shark Boeta Chamberlain had been competing for the ball with the blue-shirted Irish flanker.
The call left Sexton distinctly unimpressed.
“Abrahams hasn’t jumped for the ball. How is that not foul play? He took him out in the air,” one Irish website reported Sexton as saying to 30-year-old Evans.
But the Neath official held his ground, explaining his call before telling Sexton in no uncertain terms: “That's enough.”
Later, some felt the Leinster skipper had been within his rights to ask a question after an injury to one of his players.
Others criticised Sexton for his questioning of officialdom.
“Whinging, disrespectful. All he does is complain the entire match. What makes him so special that he can disrespect the ref so much?” one Twitter user asked.
South African journalist Brendan Nel wrote: “How many players would get away with the backchat that Sexton gets away with. Siya [Kolisi] gets half the leeway but there is an [un] written rule to put up with Sextons whinging.”
Rugby Digest said: “No way anyone should be speaking to the ref the way he has today.”
But it wasn’t all criticism of World Rugby's player of the year for 2018. Some felt that as skipper he had been within his rights to make his views known.
Niall Kenny posted: “I'm the most miserable, bitter Leinster hater you could meet but I don't see why people are acting like that was particularly egregious. Sexton whines about far less in most games. It was actually kind of understandable today since the knock Baird took was pretty scary.”
Leinster coach Leo Cullen has since issued a positive update on Baird, saying: “He’s OK, but it was a nasty enough fall.”
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