One of rugby’s top officials has admitted that he will ‘miss’ refereeing Johnny Sexton because he ‘likes him a lot’.
Mathieu Raynal went some way to dispelling the myth that Sexton is universally disliked by referees, as he outlined his respect for the now retired Ireland captain.
Despite Raynal and Sexton having a couple of frank on-field discussions in the past, including during the 2021 Six Nations win in Rome when the Ireland skipper called for the French man to check a potential try with the TMO, he always respected him.
Like all good captains, Sexton pushed the limits, and while he is the first to admit that he overstepped the mark in terms of his behaviour towards Jaco Peyper following Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle last season, Raynal insisted that the Dubliner was a ‘good guy’.
“I am sad to not ref Johnny Sexton again,” Raynal told The Rugby Pod.
“He finished his career after the World Cup and that was one reason I was really sad because I reffed him for many years with Ireland and with Leinster.
I like him a lot. I never had a problem with him.
“I am really sad because it means that I’m close to the end too because all the guys I reffed, I saw them (retiring), so now I am closer to the end than to the beginning.”
Raynal added that he never feels intimidated by refereeing fiery characters like Sexton, England’s Owen Farrell and Wales’ Dan Biggar.
“Because I have a big character too, so when I got to ref Johnny or Owen or Dan, they know me too, so maybe you can ask the question to them: ‘When you face a big character like Mathieu, how do you prep?’
“It’s the same. I don’t feel weak against these guys. I always work with them. They respect me, I respect them. I trust them, they know exactly what I expect from them, so I am not really disturbed by that.
“Honestly, they are good guys.”
