Johnny Sexton said his son would be talking more about him becoming Ireland’s record points scorer than he would after the Ireland captain recorded another remarkable personal milestone on Saturday.
The 38-year-old’s first-half try in the 59-16 demolition of Tonga in their Rugby World Cup Pool B match took him past Ronan O’Gara, his predecessor as Ireland’s flyhalf.
Sexton’s 16-point haul in a single half against the Tongans put him on 1,090 points in 115 Tests, 13 games fewer than O’Gara needed to score 1,083 points.
Photo: AP
He was uncharacteristically expressive after touching the ball down to round off a fine move and was mobbed by his teammates who sensed the size of his achievement.
“I was just happy to score the try,” Sexton told reporters after the match. “I think one of the lads said to me under the posts [that] I had broken it. I actually thought I might have got the record with the kick before.”
“Look, it is something you look back on when you retire and can be very proud of,” he said.
“My little boy [Luca] will be over the moon, he has been talking about it during the week and will probably try and chase it himself now,” Sexton said.
Sexton was phlegmatic about entering the record books as he maintained that records are there to be broken — and he has now taken three of O’Gara’s this year.
The others were Six Nations overall scorer and becoming Ireland’s most prolific scorer in the World Cup.
“Some young guy will be eying it up,” Sexton said. “I am very proud, but this was about going for the win and now looking ahead to the next match.”
Sexton’s actions reflected his words as he had opted to kick for touch rather than kick at goal for a previous penalty, which would have secured him the record.
Irealand head coach Andy Farrell, who has already described his talisman as “Ireland’s greatest player,” said it was fitting he had broken the record with such a lovely try.
“I’ve said to Johnny in front of the lads in there, he can talk for himself, but the record is fantastic,” he said. “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.”
Farrell and Sexton know that next up is a match that many see as the decider as to whether they finish top or runner-up in Pool B.
They meet defending champions South Africa in Paris on Saturday — that was one reason Sexton was withdrawn at half-time against Tonga — and Farrell said he expected an improvement on some of the sloppy play that affected his team at one point.
“I would hope we will be better, because we’ll certainly need to be when it gets to playing against a fantastic side in South Africa,” Farrell said. “We’re not ready quite yet, but we certainly will be.”
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
RSS