There are many people in rugby who will miss Jonathan Sexton. There are also plenty who will be delighted he is no longer playing, many of them will be the teams he has terrorised at club and national level for many years. However, one group you wouldn't imagine would miss Ireland's departing captain is referees.
Sexton was always a fiery presence on the field and he wasn't one for mincing his words when it came to the men in the middle. Of course, Sexton was lucky to be part of his final World Cup campaign after an incident in which he verbally abused referee Jaco Peyper, following Leinster's heartbreaking defeat to La Rochelle in the European Cup final at the Aviva Stadium.
In an interview with the Rugby Pod, French official of 17 years Mathieu Raynal remarked that Sexton is one player he was truly saddened by the idea of never officiating again.
Raynal on Sexton
Raynal displayed his admiration for Leinster and Ireland's greatest ever fly half, in what was a genuine moment of respect from a man who often clashed with Sexton when in the heat of the test match cauldron.
"I am sad to not ref Johnny Sexton again.
He finished his career after the World Cup and that was one reason I was really sad because I reffed him for many years with Ireland and with Leinster.
I like him a lot. I never had a problem with him.
I am really sad because it means that I’m close to the end too because all the guys I reffed, I saw them (retiring), so now I am closer to the end than to the beginning.”
Dealing With 'Big Personalities'
In a wider discussion with the Rugby Pod around the evolving relationship between referees and captains, in the aftermath of an interesting debate being sparked by an altercation between Owen Farrell and Luke Pierce at the weekend, Raynal said he had no issue dealing with fiery personalities such as Sexton on the field:
Because I have a big character too, so when I got to ref Johnny or Owen or Dan, they know me too, so maybe you can ask the question to them: ‘When you face a big character like Mathieu, how do you prep?’
It’s the same. I don’t feel weak against these guys. I always work with them. They respect me, I respect them. I trust them, they know exactly what I expect from them, so I am not really disturbed by that.
Honestly, they are good guys.”
Raynal's Career
Raynal began his professional refereeing career in the Top 14 in 2009. Since then he has garnered some of the highest honours an official can attain. With his first 'Tier 1' test match coming in 2012 in a game between Scotland and Tonga, he has since been part of the World Cup panel at the last three editions of the tournament, taking on the referee spot in the most recent two.
Raynal Shows CJ Red
Of course, Irish fans will likely remember him best for his sending off of CJ Stander in the 22nd minute of the first test at Newlands in 2016. A match Ireland would go on to win, 26-20 (their first win on South African soil), despite Stander's early exit.
2022 Bledisloe Cup
While also presiding over England's recent quarter final victory against Fiji, the most note worthy game in which Raynal has been involved recently was the first test of the 2022 Bledisloe Cup. In which Australia led the All Blacks with around 90 seconds to play and had successfully earned a penalty on their own five metre line.
Raynal went on to overturn the penalty and award the All Blacks a scrum after he deemed Wallaby fly half Bernard Foley, to be time wasting. The All Blacks went on to score with the clock in the red and break Wallaby hearts. Despite the initial backlash from the Australian public, it was a decision that Raynal was widely commended for by rugby fans globally.
Anyone still thinking Bernard Foley was hard done by need to have a listen to the comms from Mathieu Raynal. Clear as you like and the correct decision was made by the ref #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/65Vhx5yJ4f
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) September 17, 2022
Raynal's comments truly display the influence that Sexton had on the game globally and the amount of respect he garnered from all corners of the rugby community. I don't think there are many referees or opposition players who enjoyed every second of sharing the pitch with the former Irish captain but he certainly left his mark.
