The timeline of Johnny Sexton’s disciplinary saga including the latest update

The disciplinary saga involving Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton continues to drag out with months having passed since the incident that occurred between him and match officials after the Champions Cup final earlier this year.

With the issue still up in the air, Planet Rugby takes a closer look at the timeline of events in a poorly handled situation.

May 20 – Champions Cup final

Sexton was sidelined with a groin injury for the backend of the club season, denying him a proper send-off as his time with Leinster came to a close.

In his absence, Leinster managed to make it to the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle once again. It was a tight affair at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin but in the end, the French giants produced a sensational comeback to steal the game, 27-26 on the night.

This is where the controversy began as a suited-up Sexton took to the field and approached match officials where he reportedly said to referee Jaco Peyper and his assistants Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley, ‘You are all a f**king disgrace!” before storming off.

There were also reports that Sexton had been involved in a spat in the tunnel during half-time with some La Rochelle staff and players.

June 12 – Issued with misconduct letter from EPCR

Despite his obvious misconduct and lack of respect shown towards match officials, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) took close to a month to issue any form of communication regarding the issue.

The communication came in the form of a misconduct letter that stated according to City AM that Sexton was being accused on three accounts of misconduct.

The same reports claimed that at least one of the witness statements described the Irishman’s behaviour as intimidating.

June 29 – Date confirmed for the disciplinary hearing

The EPCR took their time in confirming the next stage of the saga. At the end of June, the governing body confirmed that Sexton would be facing an independent panel on July 13 to determine his fate with his participation at the Rugby World Cup very at risk.

The panel was also named with Christopher Quinlan from England as the chair joined by Adam Casselden SC (Australia) and Marcello D’Orey (Portugal)

July 13 – Faces disciplinary hearing

The day of the hearing arrived nearly two months after the incident happened in Dublin. According to reports, the hearing lasted a whopping six hours and the panel has now reached a stage where they will deliberate on the available information to find a verdict.

There is no clear indication as to when the verdict will be released but Sexton’s World Cup could be at risk, at the very least his preparations ahead of the tournament.

Sexton is expected to appeal any ban he receives by leveraging his clean disciplinary record.

July 14 – Decision delay

Many expected the disciplinary outcome to be published within 24 hours of the hearing. However, that was not to be, with several reports stating that the decision would not be published today.

Ie42 Murray Kinsella reported as much, tweeting: “No update from Johnny Sexton case today. Independent disciplinary committee still considering the details before reaching final decision.”

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