‘Still a lot of respect that we need to show’ – Scott Robertson weighs in on Johnny Sexton-Rieko Ioane spat
Scott Robertson says he had a discussion with Rieko Ioane ahead of the clash with Ireland.
All Blacks boss Scott Robertson has revealed the discussion he had with Rieko Ioane after details of his spat with Johnny Sexton at the Rugby World Cup were disclosed in the latter’s book.
Ioane and Sexton engaged in a war of words during the final moments and after the last blast of Wayne Barnes’ whistle during the quarter-final clash in Paris last year.
The All Blacks centre was seen taunting Sexton and fans after the final whistle, drawing heavy criticism from those in Ireland, with former flanker Alan Quinlan dubbing him a “d***head” for his actions.
Sexton-Ioane spat
At the time, Quinlan and the public did not know the details of the spat but Sexton has since revealed them in his book, Obsession, with snippets published in the Irish Times.
“As I stand there, hands on hips, staring in disbelief at Barnes, Rieko Ioane still comes up to me and tells me, ‘Get back ten metres,’” Sexton wrote.
“‘Huh?’ ‘Penalty,’ he says. ‘Back ten.’ And then, after Barnes blows the final whistle, he says, ‘Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c***.’
“So much for the All Blacks’ famous ‘no d***heads’ policy. So much for their humility. I walk after Ioane and call him a fake-humble f****r. It doesn’t look great, me having a go at one of them just after we’ve lost. But I can’t be expected to ignore that.”
Ioane responded to the excerpts of the book that were published by posting an image of him and Sexton on Instagram from that game with the Cranberries’ song ‘Zombie’ being played over the top.
Fan mail from Johnny Sexton?
While Sexton has since retired, many are predicting a fiery exchange between the All Blacks and Ireland this November.
After naming his squad for the tour to the northern hemisphere, Robertson was jokingly asked whether he had received any fan mail from Sexton before revealing his brief conversation with Ioane on the topic.
“No, not personally,” he joked.
“Look it’s a bit of a story, isn’t it. A bit of history in the channels of time and I had a quick talk to Rieko about it and asked if I should discuss it with him and he said ‘No, no it’s all done coach’.
“I think when people write books and bring up those moments, it is going to create chat and talk and that’s part of the game.
“It doesn’t matter what game or what sport, you’ve got those little rivalries but there’s still a lot of respect that we need to show.”
Close matches up north
New Zealand play Japan on October 26 before a challenging tour in Europe and Britain where they will face England, Ireland, France and Italy.
The All Blacks boss expects tight matches with an added bit of edge particularly in the clashes against England, Ireland and France who are all ranked as the top five teams in the world.
“The margins, if you look at the historical stats, the competition has evened up,” he said.
“Smaller margins, tighter matches, defensively teams are better, more aggressive but there’s still opportunities so that’s what we’re looking for and people are going into the match thinking ‘what’s going to happen?’ and that’s the entertainment part.”
