The team’s the thing, says record-breaker Johnny Sexton

Johnny Sexton waved away praise over his new points record for Ireland, lauding his teammates as they sealed a second World Cup win with their 59-16 victory over Tonga on Saturday. 

The veteran flyhalf, who played only the first half, scored a try, kicked a penalty and four conversions to take his total points in Tests for Ireland to 1,090 points, eclipsing the record of Ronan O’Gara.

“I don’t think it is about individual achievements this evening. It is about getting the next win and keep building in this tournament. It’s week-on-week in a World Cup,” Sexton said after victory in front of thousands of green-clad Irish supporters at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

Sexton looked delighted, however, as he touched down between the posts to score a try before halftime after one of the many line breaks executed by a slick Irish side.

“It’s always nice to score a try,” said the 38-year-old. “I don’t get it too often. It’s a lovely personal milestone, but I’d much rather a victory.

“We’re delighted to get five points against a very good team. That’s what tonight was about and that was the main objective.”

Ireland meet SA in Paris on Saturday in a match likely to determine who finishes top of Pool B.

“We struggled in the breakdown for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Once we got to grips with that, we started playing some better stuff.

“We had a couple of exits we weren’t that happy with,” Sexton said.

“It’s never perfect and we will go back and look at it. We try to search on how we can improve week on week.” 

Coach Toutai Kefu admitted his Tonga side had been totally outclassed but hoped they could land a few more punches in Pool B.

“Honestly, too good for us. Very clinical, that’s why they’re the best team in the world,” Kefu, a World Cup winner with the Wallabies in 1999, said.

“We’re disappointed. We’ll regroup and see what we can salvage out of this performance.”

Tonga skipper Ben Tameifuna said the fact Ireland had already played a World Cup match while the Pacific islanders were kicking their heels in their Paris training camp might have been a factor.

“There were a few boys on the team that were playing their first game tonight in the World Cup and I think it’s an eye-opener as to what it takes to play at this level,” he said.

Tonga looked competitive for large periods of the game and were in touch on the scoreboard until Ireland scored three tries in 11 minutes before halftime.

Former All Black Vaea Fifita scored a try during a period of intense Tongan pressure just before the break but backs like Charles Piutau and Malakai Fekitoa were unable to find the space to show their class.

They had also hoped to make the scrum a weapon but the precision of the Irish in all areas of the game helped negate the power of the Tongans.

“We’re going to take the learning and move forward,” the 150kg Tameifuna added.

“There were plenty of positives but plenty of one-percenters that we need to work on.”

The path does not get any easier for the Tongans with matches against in-form Scotland and world champions SA before their final pool match against Romania.

“We’ll dissect this game, we’ll regroup. We’re still in this competition,” Kefu said.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to throw a little bit more punches next week.”

Reuters