At the Stade de France,
Let’s start by telling each other things frankly. We know a pair of rugby fans, to say the least, who reveled in Jonathan Sexton’s tears of despondency, in addition to giving a little mocking smile in the press room when our colleagues from the North l ‘ clapped in unison as they said goodbye.
In our heads, it sounded like the “Goodbye President” from the lottery ad. Good riddance in short. It’s a bit harsh for the brilliant leader of this Irish team for fifteen years, but the aversion goes back to these two years of showing his talent part-time in the Racing jersey, and certainly owes a little to the mechanical nature of the game advocated by Sexton, who will let go after 118 selections and almost as many concussion protocols.
“The greatest Irish player of all time”
On Saturday evening, a whole people, still in shock from the defeat against the Blacks, had to resolve to the unthinkable: to hug the void in their arms while imagining life without their Johnny. All my friends paid tribute to him, and to avoid the Ikea catalog, we will select that of the 3rd line Jack Conan, poignant (for real):
“He is someone who deserves so much for the sacrifices he has made, for the player, the person, the leader of men that he is. For almost two decades he represented all that was best in Irish rugby. That’s the hardest thing to accept, not being able to give him the departure he deserves. This is our reference value. He is the one who sets the standard to follow. He’s the leader, a great guy on and off the field. He gets lost in it all sometimes, but he puts in more than any other player I’ve ever met or seen, in any sport. In my eyes, he is the greatest Irish player of all time, for everything he has done, and it is an incredible joy for me to have been able to play with him for so many years. »
Hidden somewhere in the middle of this shower of praise, a tiny criticism which tells of the only chink in the armor of the Sexton robot: a certain propensity to derail at very high altitude, when the Irish TGV does not roll over the adversary as agreed . Saturday evening, the Clover opener touched an astronomical quantity of balls (73, including a good number in the last stratospheric action of 5mn17), but he missed the penalty which would undoubtedly have changed everything, at the hour mark. , while she was well within her ropes. With only one point behind going into the final minutes and the Blacks within drop range, it would have been another lemonade.
No qualification for the World Cup semi-finals
But now, at 38 banks, Sexton paid an exaggerated playing time in the first round, before being caught up by the O’Connoly curse in the World Cup. Eight quarter-finals played, including four with Johnny, and zero semi-finals. “I’m very proud of the guys, of the whole country. We couldn’t have done better, it’s almost nothing. They struck by surprise and scored a few tries like that, and that’s how you recognize great teams. We knew we were facing an excellent team and unfortunately, we just missed out. »
The man with graying temples, who went to reunite with his family at the final whistle after a mini-squabble with a New Zealand player (we won’t do it again), then expanded on his more personal feelings: “That It’s been great. These six weeks went like a dream. This band, these fans, I’m so disgusted that I can’t give them better. In recent years, I have experienced the best moments of my career, especially with Faz [Andy Farrell] here and this team. I thank life. At 38, it’s normal to have ups and downs. I will think about the future over the next few weeks but now I am going to enjoy my family. »
And to the huge prick who is preparing internally to celebrate his farewells. Not enough to drink for three days and two nights, but that’s the idea, according to his friend at the Gibson-Park hinge: “We’re going to try to keep our heads high and celebrate the end of our international career with dignity in the coming years. 24 hours. »