Ireland secured a routine 59-16 Rugby World Cup win over Tonga in Nantes this evening, racking up eight tries, while the likes of Bundee Aki and Johnny Sexton continued their fine form.
It was a particularly momentous occasion for Sexton as he overtook Ronan O'Gara as Ireland's all-time leading points scorer, when he went over for a try in the 38th minute.
His jubilant celebrations made it clear that he was well aware of the the achievement, although he played it down in his post-match interview on ITV:
To get five points against a very good team, that's what tonight was about. That was the main objective and we did it.
So we move on and we're concentrating now on a massive game next week ..... playing against the world champions, it's going to be very special.
I don't think it's about individual achievements this evening. It's just about getting the next win and keep building in this tournament.
It's week on week in a World Cup. You've got to produce a week after week.
Johnny Sexton Plays Down His Remarkable Achievement After Ireland Beat Tonga At World Cup
It was a special, landmark night for Johnny Sexton, but he's focusing on bigger challenges to come #RWC2023 #RTErugby pic.twitter.com/sQfZiyeic3
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 16, 2023
🚨 POINTS RECORD KLAXON🚨
Johnny Sexton races between the posts for the bonus-point try, and become Irish rugby's record points scorer in the process, tagging on the conversion for his 1090th point ☘️https://t.co/rddgIxtOFd #RTErugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/rT3ciMODY4— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 16, 2023
READ HERE: Gordon D'Arcy Has Noticed Something Very Different About Johnny Sexton During Rugby World Cup
"Hey, look, it's always nice to get on the score [score a try]," added Sexton.
"I don't get on it too often, but it's a lovely personal milestone.
"You know, I think that we struggled with the breakdown for the first 15, 20 minutes, and then once we got to grips with that we started playing some better stuff.
"We had a couple of exits that we weren't that accurate with...with every game it is never perfect in any area.
"And we go back and look at it and we try and search for how we can improve week on week."
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