Johnny Sexton ban far from ideal as Andy Farrell forced into warm-up rethink

As Ireland's injuries piled up during the opening rounds of the Six Nations, Andy Farrell spoke so glowingly about embracing the chaos that at times you wondered if he was manufacturing them himself.

If the Ireland head coach wanted his World Cup preparations challenged, then he got his wish with Johnny Sexton’s three-game suspension, which rules him out of Ireland’s warm-up games against Italy, England and Samoa next month.

Of course, it could have been worse for the Ireland captain, who was found guilty of being "confrontational and aggressive" towards referee Jaco Peyper and his officials following May’s Champions Cup final, in which Sexton’s Leinster were beaten 27-26 by La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium.

In the full, 36-page report by the independent disciplinary committee released on Sunday night, they suggested that had it not been for his admission of guilt and clean record, his three-game ban would likely have been six, which would have ruled him out of the Pool B games against Romania, Tonga and South Africa.

If we’re gauging the mood of the room off Rugby Twitter – something best done with an open mind – his three-game ban appears somewhere between 'fair’ and ‘a damning indictment on Rugby Values’. We’ll leave the reader decide which camp they fit into.

Whether Sexton should have been banned for one game or 20 ultimately isn’t a concern for Farrell and the Irish coaches. The out-half will be available for selection for the opening game of the World Cup against Romania on 9 September in Bordeaux, and while it’s in some ways a relief, it’s not exactly ideal.

Some of the backlash against his three-game suspension focuses on the importance of the games he’ll be missing. As standalone fixtures go, World Cup warm-up games