During the World Cup, the French perception of Johnny Sexton and his spell at Racing Metro became very clear indeed. He was egotistical, he was difficult to work with and above all, he was a failure. It was almost as if Ireland and France were on a collision course and there was a deliberate ploy to try and affect Sexton's game.
When it came down to it, the trickle of stories coming out of the Racing dressing room did little to change the course of the deciding game in Pool D back in October. The most notable of those stories came from an anonymous teammate of Sexton's who suggested that the Irish out-half was 'the Zlatan Ibrahimovic of rugby'.
Some might take that as a compliment given Zlatan's standing in the world of football, but it was fairly clearly meant as an allusion to the PSG striker's egotistical public persona. Speaking to the Herald, Sexton has had his say on those comments for the first time and it's fair to say he's not been giving them too much credence.
I met all my former team-mates from Racing in the changing-room after the game. I was talking to them about old times and they were laughing about it as well because any of their comments were taken out of context.
The French press have done that in the past and they'll continue to do it.
As for the Zlatan comment, he was fairly blunt about it. As for who he is however, well that's a different story.
I'm not Zlatan, I'll tell you that. I don't know who I am. I am a man of many faces maybe.
Very philosophical altogether. There's a cracking autobiography in there waiting to get out. Either that or someone's been watching Game Of Thrones recently and he's just taking the piss.
So there you have it, Johnny Sexton is not Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he's Jaqen H'ghar.
