Ireland centre Garry Ringrose insists that skipper Johnny Sexton has been hard at work ahead of his independent disciplinary hearing next week.
Sexton’s hearing will take place on Thursday, July 13 and is related to his misconduct after the final of the Champions Cup where he approached the referees after Leinster lost the clash to La Rochelle.
The veteran fly-half, who was injured for the game, allegedly said, “You are all a f***king disgrace” to the match officials before walking off. He was then issued with a misconduct letter by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) in June.
He is expected to receive a fairly significant ban that should at the very least hamper his World Cup preparations by ruling him out of the warm-up fixtures.
Training hard
Despite the impending hearing and ban, Ringrose insists that Sexton is not looking worried and has been focused on training.
“I don’t think so,” said Ringrose to the 42. “He’s certainly training as hard as ever and getting the most out of everyone around him. Nothing’s changed from that perspective.”
Ringrose is confident in his leader’s ability to bounce back from anything thrown at him as he expects Sexton to do again.
“He has an unbelievable gift that whatever challenge seems to be thrown at him he deals with it head on and is resilient and gets through it,” said Ringrose.
“Whether he gets to play all the pre-season games or if he or some guys pick up a niggle and have to wait until the World Cup to play, he and a few others are brilliant at being able to tackle any challenge that comes their way.
“He’s an unbelievable leader for us, he has so much experience when it comes to the World Cup so everyone is still tapping into him as much as they can and he has been brilliant at helping other guys around him, whatever might happen outside of that.
“So whatever happens happens, but I know he’ll be able to take it in his stride.”
Looking to level up
Ireland have been in great form of late and added a Grand Slam to complement their number one status in the world rankings. It has been a dream for Ringrose but he knows it puts a target on their back.
“It was a dream come true for everyone involved to win a Grand Slam but there were loads of moments within the games that you’re always striving to improve on and get better,” he said.
“Everyone’s acutely aware that all the other teams will improve now and get better so the challenge everyone is licking their lips about is to do the same thing. We have to try to take our game to another level knowing other teams are going to do exactly the same.”
Time has moved quickly between the World Cups for Ringrose who is solely focused on representing his country on the biggest stage of all.
“It’s crazy how quick time has flown by from the last World Cup,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like that long ago but so much has happened in the interim. It makes me appreciate the opportunity to go into a pre-season and give it a crack.
“There’s a lot of stuff I can’t control, so it’s about focusing on what I can control. It’s an opportunity to represent our country in a World Cup. It’s the pinnacle really. It’s hugely exciting, hugely motivating, and one I can’t wait to get stuck into and will hopefully get there.”
READ MORE: Johnny Sexton to face disciplinary panel for berating Jaco Peyper
The article ‘Nothing’s changed’ for Johnny Sexton ahead of impending discipline hearing appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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