Former Ireland and Munster star Alan Quinlan has slammed New Zealand's Rieko Ioane for taunting Ireland's captain Johnny Sexton after the final whistle in Paris last week.
Ireland were narrowly beaten by the All-Blacks in the quarter-final in Paris, and Ioane and Sexton were caught on video exchanging words. Sexton in the video did not take kindly to his opponent's words and looked visibly angry.
It was later revealed that Ioane said, "Enjoy retirement and don't miss the flight home."
New Zealand head coach Ian Foster also had his say on the matter and took a swipe at Sexton's conduct around referee's.
Sexton recieved a ban for verball abusing the referee in the Champions Cup Final this year. He missed Ireland's three warm-up games against Samoa, England, and Italy, before returning for Ireland's opening Rugby World Cup game against Romania.
"It happens in most sporting parks when tensions are high and a lot is at stake," Foster said this week. "Unfortunately, recently it has also included players saying a few things to referees. Is it right for the game? I don't know. You don't hear a lot of players complaining about it."
Sexton, who is well-known for his hot temper and moaning in rugby circles was mocked by rival fans online, but others like Quinlan defended the Leinster star from comments made by Foster this week.
🗣 'If an Irish player did that in Dunedin, no way would I want that!'
😡 Alan Quinlan had no time for Rieko Ioane gesturing to the Irish crowd during the #RugbyWorldCup quarter-final. pic.twitter.com/pKNQQBmA8z— Off The Ball (@offtheball) October 20, 2023
Speaking to Off the Ball in Ireland, the Munster man said, "People can automatically say, Oh well Johnny Sexton was moaning again and some of the South African people I follow online or see on Twitter and New Zealanders, even some Welsh, a bit of bitterness jumps up pretty quickly, few Scots by the way as well.
"We all know what Johnny Sexton did was wrong, but you’d still love to have Johnny Sexton on your team. I just think it is necessary with a guy who’s now retired- I know they probably said nice things with him after. What Rieko Ioane did, I was just a bit surprised. Why is he going to the Irish crowd there?”
One of the key policies around the New Zealand winning machine is the known policy of ‘No D*****s’ which keeps the team from being seduced by highly talented divas that will not fit in with their non-negotiable principle of ‘Whanau’ which translates to ‘our family, our friends, our tribe.'
When asked about New Zealand having a no-d****s rule, Quinlan added, “He was being a dickhead. He was being a d*****d, clearly.
“Rieko Ioane, he’s an excellent player, I just don’t know why he’s going to the Irish crowd (with his hand cupped over his ear) doing that. What if the Irish crowd did the same?. If one of the Irish players did that down in Wellington or Dunedin after we won two games there, I would not- no way I would want one of the Irish players doing that to the crowd, for what?. There's no perspective, it’s a load of s**t. That’s a load of b****t. What’s he going to the crowd for?”
See More: Ireland, New Zealand, Rugby World Cup 2023
