Johnny Sexton joined some of his Ireland Rugby World Cup team-mates for a night out at Adare Manor in Limerick as the group let their hair down alongside their glamorous WAGs. The 38-year-old hung up his rugby boots for good after Ireland were dumped out of the Rugby World Cup by New Zealand at the quarter-final stage earlier this month.
Sexton enjoyed a stellar tournament in France and helped his country finish top of Pool B courtesy of four wins from four matches. The fly-half even inspired his team to victory over finalists South Africa to set-up a showdown with New Zealand in the last eight. But the All Blacks came out on top of an epic encounter as they won the match 28-24.
Following the players’ return to Ireland, Munster aces Tadhg Beirne, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony linked-up with Keith Earls and Sexton for a night away at the manor house, which is a luxury five-star hotel and includes a Michelin-starred restaurant.
The players and their wives enjoyed food and wine and appeared to be in good spirits as Jessica O’Mahony and Joanna Cooper shared pictures of the occasion on social media.
Sexton is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest players of all-time and is the fifth most-capped player in the country’s history after featuring 119 times. The No 10 won four Six Nations titles during his illustrious career and was also named World Rugby player of the year in 2018. But it could take him some time to come to terms with Ireland’s defeat to the All Blacks as the result could have easily gone the other way on another day.
“It’s gutting, isn’t it?” Sexton said after Ireland’s Rugby World Cup exit. “It’s small margins and that’s sport. That’s life. It’s unfortunate, but this group will bounce back.
“The last couple of years have definitely been, in a green jersey anyway, the most enjoyable of my career. Definitely. The group, the way Faz (Andy Farrell) leads us with the other coaches, everyone runs into camp and never wants to leave. It’s an incredible place to be and that’s what I’ll miss the most. Going to work every day with those guys, but I’m just grateful as well.
“You can’t be 38 and sit here giving out too much. I’ve had lots of ups and downs in my career, lots of injuries, so I’ll probably reflect more over the next couple of weeks, take time off and spend it with my family and see what happens.”
Buy all of your Rugby World Cup 2023 programmes here.
