LAST UPDATE | 6 Nov 2021
JAPAN’S GIFT TO Johnny Sexton on this special day is one he will have to keep a close eye on when he gets home.
After getting taken apart by Sexton and his Ireland team, the Japanese presented the 36-year-old with a samurai sword.
Andy Farrell was sitting alongside Sexton at the post-match press conference and couldn’t resist a joke when the out-half was asked about the memento.
“He’ll give it to his son!” said Farrell.
Sexton’s face broke into another smile on a day full of them.
“I’ll keep it away from Luca [his son], he’ll bash his sisters with it,” said Sexton.
“I’ll put it pride of place. It’s a special day and that’s a special memento to get from an opposition team, that’s very special for me and it will take pride of place somewhere in my house.”
Sexton was thinking of his family just after barging over for a second-half try on the occasion of his 100th cap for Ireland.
His team-mates mobbed him when he dotted down and Sexton will never forget the moment.
“I said it to the lads in the dressing room that it was one of the best moments of my career,” he explained.
“I don’t think Andrew Conway came in cos he felt I should have passed the ball to him but it was very special and the crowd at that moment, I’ll remember it forever.”
As they all cleared out of the way and Sexton strolled down the touchline with a grin on his face, trying to ready himself to take the conversion, he couldn’t help but glance up at his family in the stand.
“I knew where they were sitting before the game, and they were just smiling, so then I was trying to switch in and get the conversion,” said Sexton.
“I was probably more happy about that than anything.”
This tells us plenty about Sexton. He had just enjoyed one of the best moments of his career but he was instantly focusing on the next challenge: nailing the conversion to take Ireland further clear.
As always, his focus this week was on making sure Ireland had a good result collectively, even though so much of the build-up was about him.
“Since the team was announced the amount of messages coming in… I think I spent a record time replying to people yesterday and things like that, but then I had to remember that I had a game to play,” said Sexton.
The messages came from wide and far. Some of them stood out.
“All the lads with a hundred caps made the effort to reach out,” said Sexton. “That meant a lot to me. Obviously some boyhood heroes… Paul McGrath. It was on Instagram, that one.
“So many, to be honest. Again, I feel like I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be the morning of the game. It’s just been a surreal day and a surreal week.”
Sexton said he also felt some guilt in among the happiness and pride today.
He found it hard not to think of Cian Healy reaching the 100-cap mark when there were no crowds allowed into stadiums. He also thought of Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney, two of his best friends in the game, finishing their careers without a farewell to the fans.
And already, Sexton is looking forward. Ireland were good today, very good for large parts of the game, but there’s no doubt that the All Blacks clash next Saturday is the big one of this autumn window.
The Aviva Stadium will have a sell-out crowd for the visit of Ian Foster’s side, who bring an array of attacking, defensive, and physical threats.
Sexton enjoyed Ireland’s performance today and wants them to play like this consistently. The All Blacks clash will tell us plenty about Farrell’s team.
“I don’t think you would ever say you are really confident about beating the All Blacks because you need to get away from thinking about the result,” said Sexton of the challenge.
“You need to go and look after the process and bring out your very best performance and that will give you a chance. If you don’t do that, you have no chance so we will do our analysis on them. They have some really dangerous players and a very good coaching team.
“They have had some great results of late and we will give them all the attention they deserve, but we have to focus on making sure we give our best version of ourselves next Saturday.”
