Ireland captain Johnny Sexton says he feels he let himself down following his reaction to being substituted late on in the Six Nations defeat to France and he has made an apology to head coach Andy Farrell.

The instrumental fly-half was visibly annoyed at being replaced by Ross Byrne in the final quarter of his side’s 35-27 loss at the Stade de France on Saturday, repeatedly shaking his head in a prolonged trudge from the turf.

While Farrell has moved on, agreeing “100 per cent” that the issue is a storm in a teacup after naming his squad for the forthcoming Autumn Nations Cup, a contrite Sexton admitted it was “a low point” in his career.

Sexton feels his response to being brought off was as much about the disappointment of his side’s performance but admitted it should not have happened.

“You’ve got to take it from my point of view, it’s in the heat of the moment, I’m in one of the biggest games I’ve played in as captain. It’s a low point and I reacted in a bad way in a split second and that’s it.

“I spoke to Andy after the game and again on Sunday when I realised it was such a big thing and we sorted things out. I apologised and said, ‘it shouldn’t have happened, it did, it was a split second.’

“I let myself down in that regard but you learn and move on. It’s not the first apology I’ve made in my career and it won’t be the last, probably. Thankfully we’ve got a good relationship and there’s no problems going forward.”

Farrell, who has drafted in uncapped trio Billy Burns, Shane Daly and New Zealand-born wing James Lowe for Ireland’s games against Wales on November 13, England on November 21 and Georgia on November 29, was philosophical when discussing Sexton.

“Johnny’s a passionate guy and it’s the reason why we all love him as a player at the top of the Irish game. I don’t feel undermined and the team don’t either,” he said.