Stories involving Ronan O’Gara and Johnny Sexton often revolve around the two having disagreements both on and off the pitch. Whether that be the original spat over the famous kicking fiasco of 2010, the Munster vs. Leinster altercation of 2009, or even recently the Leinster vs. Racing dispute that saw Sexton sidelined for three matches leading up to this World Cup.
Well, this is a story, not of the two of them at each other's throats, but of them teaming up against a certain Drew Mitchell.
As the story goes, Sexton was due to take a place kick during a Toulon vs. Racing match when Aussie player Drew Mitchell took exception to the length of time it was taking the Irish fly-half to take his kick.
Instead of remaining silent during the kick, like is expected in Sexton's home country of Ireland, Mitchell took his opportunity to tell Sexton to “F***ing hurry up mate, hurry up, hurry up, kick”.
This upset both Sexton, and O’Gara who was running the tee on, as they verbally laid into the former Wallaby winger, shouting "You f***ing shut your mouth mate, you've gotta be quiet". To which Mitchell, clearly fired up, shouted back "You f*** off mate, you're a has been, you've had your time".
The end of the game saw O’Gara happy to let bygones be bygones, but Sexton was clearly was not on the same wavelength as he refused to look at Mitchell while shaking his hand. Sexton was then berated by Mitchell who said “Look at me when you shake my hand”.
Mitchell recounted the time following the match when he and Matt Giteau bumped into Sexton in an Adidas store in the Champs Elysees, when the Irish man wouldn’t address him, making him feel as useless as a “ham sandwich”.
Watch the brilliant story on ‘The Good, The Bad, and the Rugby Australia’ here:
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