Captain Johnny Sexton admits he instantly regretted the heated exchange with referee Jaco Peyper which caused him to miss Ireland’s Rugby World Cup warm-up matches through suspension.
Fly-half Sexton was hit with a three-match ban for misconduct for his behaviour following Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle on May 20 in Dublin.
The 38-year-old, who did not play in that match due to injury and is set to retire after the upcoming tournament in France, says the incident was a “mistake in the heat of the moment”.
He was on Sunday afternoon confirmed in Andy Farrell’s squad for the World Cup and is likely to make his return in his country’s Pool B opener on September 9 against Romania in Bordeaux.
Asked if he had any regrets about the on-field altercation with South African official Peyper at the Aviva Stadium, he said: “Of course, yeah. I’ve held my hands up since day one.
“I made a mistake in the heat of the moment.
“I was obviously very emotional on the day not being part of what I had mapped out from the start of the year as playing my last game for Leinster in the Aviva, winning a European cup.
“It’s what I dreamt of and then obviously to miss that, there’s a lot of emotion that goes with it and in that split second I went on to console my team-mates, I made a remark and I regretted it instantly.
“You make mistakes, you say sorry and hold your hands up and that’s what I’ve done.”
Sexton was forced off by a groin injury while helping Ireland clinch the Six Nations Grand Slam against England in March and has not played competitively since.
He watched from the stands this month as his country defeated Italy, England and Samoa.
Without the suspension, the 29-10 success over Steve Borthwick’s side on August 19 would have been Sexton’s final Dublin appearance.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating to have to sit and watch, it’s obviously my own fault,” he continued.
“But that’s been life, I’ve just had to do what I could for the team and try and learn by watching the guys and contribute where I could.
“It was particularly tough last weekend in the Aviva. You live and learn and it’s time to move on now.”
Sexton, who has 113 Ireland caps, was appointed skipper following the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
The 2018 world player of the year feels “very privileged” to have the chance to lead his country into the forthcoming competition.
“(It means) a huge amount,” he said. “If someone told me four years ago I’d be back here captain, I would have taken it 100 per cent.
“There’s been a lot put into this team by the management over the last four years and to get their vote of confidence four years ago to do it with this as the end goal, it’s been huge.
“I’m very proud for myself, my family and just for the group that we have. It’s a very privileged position to be in with such a good group.”
Robertson makes overseas players plea after New Zealand labour versus Italy
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson has said he wants to see overseas-based players become eligible for the All Blacks after his side laboured to a 29-11 win over Italy.
The visitors recorded their 18th straight win against Italy to wrap up their autumn series, but Robertson's side were made to work for the victory in Turin in flanker Sam Cane's final Test for the team, ahead of his switch to play club rugby in Japan.
Speaking after the game, Robertson said he would ask New Zealand Rugby to follow in the footsteps of world champions South Africa and allow those playing outside domestic competitions to be eligible for the national team.
"We don't want to be a cycle behind or a couple of years behind," Robertson said.
"Professional rugby is always evolving. Let's keep an open mind and see what's next. I'll definitely be presenting.
"Using South Africa as an example, they get the opportunity to use a lot of experienced players who are looked after and managed well into their 30s so they've got a great balance.
"And they've got big squads, they can have two really quality 15s."
Gatland future up in the air after Wales suffer 12th consecutive loss
Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.
The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.
Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.
James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.
"It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.
"You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.
"Let's just see what happens over the next few days."
On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.
"The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.
"I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."
South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.
Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.
"It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.
"The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.
"We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.
"The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."
Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
France 37-23 Argentina: Les Bleus wrap up campaign with third win
France posted a comfortable 37-23 win over Argentina on Friday to make it three wins out of three tests at the Stade de France to conclude their Autumn Nations Series.
Having also beaten New Zealand and Japan in Paris this month, Fabien Galthie's side claimed four tries, including a superb solo effort from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, as they eased to victory against the Pumas.
The hosts led 30-9 at the break after Argentina's Julian Montoya and Juan Martin Gonzalez were both shown yellow cards in the first half, with Thomas Ramos slotting his third penalty of the game.
Tomas Albornoz made it 30-16 for Felipe Contepomi's visitors, but their hopes of a comeback were dashed as Bielle-Biarrey scored his fourth try in three games before Ramos made it 37-16.
Albornoz then cut the deficit to 37-23 with a two-pointer with nine minutes to play, but that wasn't enough to stop his side from falling to a defeat.
"We knew it was going to be an 80-minute game. We saw last week how Argentina went all the way against a good Irish team," France lock Emmanuel Meafou told TNT Sports.
"We are happy with the win. We have three from three [in the autumn] and we will look to build on that in the Six Nations next year."
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