All Blacks embrace Ioane's 'feud' with Sexton ahead of crunch Test

The All Blacks have departed for their Northern tour after making a point of embracing Rieko Ioane’s "feud" with former Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton, with head coach Scott Robertson saying it was simply "part of the game" and helpful in creating a rivalry between the nations.

Ioane, never one to shy away from a conflict on the field, was accused by Sexton of disrespect after Ireland’s quarter-final defeat to the All Blacks at last year’s World Cup, writing in his recently released book that the midfielder told him after the final whistle: "Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c***."

Sexton wrote: "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*****.

"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."

Many observers have since pointed out the irony in Sexton’s colourful recollection as he was one of the game’s worst culprits in spraying verbal abuse at opponents and indeed match officials, for which he was censured.

In addition, Sexton doesn’t mention the sledging handed out by his own teammates to the All Blacks the previous year, and in particular to then skipper Sam Cane, when Ireland made history by beating New Zealand in the series 2-1.

No doubt amused by the recent headlines, Ioane kept things simmering with a social media post that suggested he was "in Sexton’s head", helped by the Cranberries song Zombie which has been co-opted by Irish rugby supporters.

All of which means that the build-up to the All Blacks’ fixture against the world’s No.1 side in Dublin on Saturday, November 9 NZT is already simmering, and Robertson for one, doesn’t see anything wrong with that.

Asked before the squad flew out for Tokyo this morning and their Test against Japan a week on Saturday, Robertson was queried on whether he had received any "fan mail" from Sexton.

"Not personally," he replied. "It’s a bit of a story, isn’t it? A bit of history in the channels of time. I had a quick talk to Rieko about it and asked how I should discuss it and he said 'no, no, it’s all done, coach'.

"I think when people write books and bring up those moments it’s 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."

Ioane’s Blues teammate Stephen Perofeta said: "He stands on it – he’s Rieks. He can say whatever and be him."

It’s a new and refreshing approach from the All Blacks, who in years past may have closed ranks and refused to acknowledge the story.

Robertson was right, too, to bring up the book element in his response. In selling his memoir, Sexton has attempted to right what he considers a few wrongs but has instead highlighted a single-mindedness that helped him become Ireland’s record Test points scorer but which did little to help his self-awareness.

So the Irish Test is a spicy one. But so is the one against England at Twickenham before it and the one against France in Paris after it.

England will still be stewing about losing two close Tests here in July and will be seeking their own revenge, while France, who have already announced they will send a "B team" to New Zealand next year, will likely be as enigmatic and unpredictable as usual.

"When we got the schedule over a year ago you look at it and think 'okay here we go," Robertson said. "We’ll find out a bit about ourselves."

After three defeats and five victories in his first eight Tests as head coach, the learning curve has likely been steep for Robertson and his assistants, who have likely lost the services of injured loose forwards Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali’i for the trip, plus that of Hoskins Sotutu who has withdrawn from the All Blacks XV squad due to a knee injury.

"The margins… they’ve evened up," Robertson said of the modern Test scene. "Smaller margins, tighter matches. Defensively teams are better. They’re more aggressive, they turn you in… but there’s still opportunities. That’s what we’re looking for. People go into matches thinking 'what’s going to happen' and that’s the entertainment part of the game."

That, plus the growing individual rivalries, of course.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.