IT WAS SO perfect that Johnny Sexton broke the record by running the kind of support line he has run literally thousands of times in his career.
Most of the time, the pass doesn’t come. But Sexton is usually there on the shoulder.
Among the many things he’s world-class at, getting upfield off the ball is a particular Sexton specialty.
So having equalled Ronan O’Gara’s record with his kicking off the tee in front of a wild Irish crowd in Nantes, it was perfect that Sexton made it a new record by being in the right place at the right time on a clever Ireland set-piece play, taking Garry Ringrose’s pass and sliding gleefully in under the posts.
Sexton can be a cantankerous presence on the pitch but here he was ecstatic. His team-mates were similarly overjoyed, while Andy Farrell and his coaches celebrated enthusiastically too.
On a very good night for Ireland, Sexton’s record-breaking try was the highlight and his son, Luca, was probably the most excited of anyone to see him set a new bar of 1,090 points – a record he will only add to in the coming weeks.
“I was just happy to score the try,” said Sexton after Ireland’s 59-16 win over Tonga at Stade de la Beaujoire.
“I think one of the lads said it to me under the posts and I actually thought I had got it on the kick before. It’s something when you retire and finish, you can look back and be proud.
“I think my little boy will be over the moon, he was talking about it during the week and it probably means more to him. He’ll chase it down now! And so will the other 10s. It’s there to be broken now and I’m sure some young guys will be eyeing it up.
“Look, I’m very proud to do it but tonight was more about getting the win and moving onto what’s such a massive game now this week.”
Sexton was asked if Ronan O’Gara has been on yet, but the Dublin man said he hadn’t checked his phone.
“I’m not sure we’re talking to each other after the European Cup final,” said Sexton with a laugh. “No, I’m sure he will.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was keen to pay tribute to the 38-year-old captain.
Making Sexton his skipper was one of the most important things Farrell did upon taking on the Ireland job. He continues to get pay-off.
“I think it was fitting,” said Farrell of Sexton’s score. “He had nine points and equalled the record, didn’t he, before he scored the try. That’s what I was trying to find out with Vinny [Hammond], our analyst, and two minutes later he scored under the posts.
“You just knew when we got held up and we were set to play that play, it was something we practiced during the week. He knows which ones to follow and he followed Conor [Murray] really well. It’s so fitting that he broke the record with a try like that.
“But what I would say and what I’ve said to Johnny in front of the lads in there, he can talk for himself, but the record is fantastic. He’d say that’s his job but it takes some doing.
“To us, as a leader, as a player, he’s a lot more than a points-scoring machine for Ireland how he prepares his team and gets them up for every single game is more important to him and certainly to us.”
Overall, Farrell was a happy man. Ireland have scored 20 tries in their opening two World Cup games, were impressive against the Tongans in Nantes, and now head into their clash with South Africa next weekend feeling confident.
The Ireland boss was happy to be able to get key men off early, with Sexton among those replaced at half time. However, Tadhg Furlong played around 78 minutes of action after his replacement, Finlay Bealham, was forced off with a head injury.
Farrell stopped short of ruling Bealham out of the South Africa game next weekend.
“Finlay’s in great spirits so he’ll go through the protocols tomorrow but looking at him and speaking to the medics, they’re pretty happy with where he’s at, obviously with all the protocols, probably.”
As for the Irish performance, it appeared to tick a lot of boxes but Farrell disagreed with that framing of the win.
“It was a bit more than that,” said Farrell. “We’re not into ticking boxes. We would like to see and judge ourselves on how we’ve prepared for a tough game which it was always going to be against a Tongan side that was raring to go with the quality they’ve got and the quality coaching staff.
“To get their tournament up and running, it was always going to be a tough challenge for us but I thought we handled the game and the opponent extremely well. Even when things weren’t going too well for us, as in errors, I thought controlling territory-wise, we controlled the game really well.
“Once we got a couple of scores up, we flowed nicely and controlled the game throughout.”
