Ref mic picks up brilliant clip of Johnny Sexton chatting to Ben O’Keefe
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Skipper.
Ireland kept their one hundred percent record going at this year’s Rugby World Cup with a huge win over defending champions South Africa last weekend.
There wasn’t much between the two sides when the final whistle went, with both sides scoring a try each, but Ireland edged out their opponents 13-8 in the end, thanks to the boot of captain Johnny Sexton.
Sexton has started all three of Ireland’s pool matches so far, putting in some hugely impressive performances, after nearly six months out of the game through injury and suspension.
The 38-year-old has been using all of his experience at the World Cup so far, with one of our followers bringing this excellent clip to our attention of him chatting to referee Ben O’Keefe on Saturday to help Ireland get the edge over their opponents.
On the 28th minute on Saturday night in Paris, Johnny Sexton spoke to referee Ben O'Keeffe about "coaching" the Springboks out of penalties. The next four penalties all went Ireland's way.
Ian McKinley, Matt Williams and Rob Kearney discuss the moment here.#RSAvIRE #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/nqGQAPqpRT
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 28, 2023
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O’Keefe can be seen telling the South Africans that they’re about to infringe during play, with Sexton using the next break to tell him that the Boks should be left to their own devices and pinged, rather than warned ahead of time.
“I understand we want a free-flowing game,” Sexton said.
“But you can’t always coach them out of a penalty. If he’s offside, he’s offside.”
O’Keefe agreed with Sexton after this clever intervention. Interestingly, the next four penalties went Ireland’s way.
A brilliant bit of captaincy from the veteran.