Ireland captain Johnny Sexton shared a moment that tugged on the heartstrings after crashing out of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday night. Accompanied by his son on the pitch, the youngster had a short and sweet message for the 38-year-old as defeat to New Zealand confirmed his retirement from the sport.
There was hope that Ireland could break their run of quarter-final exits by making it to the latter stages of this year’s tournament. They made a major statement of intent by beating defending champions South Africa in the pool stage.
But when push came to shove, the All Blacks proved to be an insurmountable hurdle at Stade de France. The Irish put up a stern fight before ultimately coming up short in a thrilling 28-24 contest.
Sexton was visibly gutted after the final whistle, which not only signalled the end of Ireland’s hopeful World Cup run, but also his professional rugby career.
Trudging off the pitch with his son by his side, Sexton was told: “You’re still the best dad.” Fans jumped on the clip, which quickly circulated on social media, with @jkmanc1974 posting on X: “Has been an amazing emotional rollercoaster over the years for Johnny Sexton to be fair – great clip and shows what life is all about.”
Sexton’s professional career started with Leinster back in 2006. Three years later he was a senior Ireland international, and he hangs up his boots with well over 100 caps.
“We were two good teams going at it, fine margins and all that. At the start of the game we coughed up penalties and gave them field position and six points. I was so proud of the way we came back and kept attacking them right until the death.
“We’ve had a good run, but sport can be cruel sometimes – I guess that’s why we love it. The way we kept battling shows the character of this side.”
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