Although Ireland’s 59-16 win over Tonga once again vindicated Andy Farrell’s selection, not least as there was little collateral damage done except for the head knock suffered by Finlay Bealham, the Irish head coach was not remotely inclined to see it that way.
“I don’t see vindication at all. I understand why people have an opinion but we make calculated decisions based on the facts that we’ve got and what’s best for our team. So I don’t think I need to vindicate myself in what decision we make.
“The right thing for our team is to get that little bit of continuity, get more game time and get the job done and get people off at the right time etc.”
At the end of the first quarter the score was 3-all before Tadhg Beirne’s first try led to the bonus point being achieved by half-time. But against “a Tongan side that was raring to go with the quality they’ve got and the quality coaching staff”, Farrell was happy with how his team’s performance evolved.
“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 territory-wise, we controlled the game really well. Once we got a couple of scores up, we flowed nicely and controlled the game throughout.”
[ Rugby World Cup tables, results and fixturesOpens in new window ]
Fittingly, the 38th minute bonus point try was scored by Johnny Sexton and in so doing, he overtook Ronan O’Gara’s all-time Irish points scoring record.
“I think it was fitting,” agreed Farrell. “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, 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 practised during the week. He knows which ones to follow and he followed Conor really well. It’s so fitting that he broke the record with a try like that.
“But what I would say and 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.”
As for the moment itself, Sexton certainly celebrated as if he knew the notable landmark he had achieved, but apparently not so.
“I was just happy to score the try. 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 on to what’s such a massive game now this week.”
[ Outstanding Johnny Sexton deserves his place in the record booksOpens in new window ]
As for Bealham, the Irish management haven’t given up hope of him veing fit next Saturday.
“Finlay’s in great spirits so he’ll go through the protocols tomorrow,” said Farrell, “but looking at him and speaking to the medics, they’re pretty happy with where he’s at, obviously with all the protocols, probably.”
Looking ahead to this huge contest against the reigning world champions, Farrell said: “Well, 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. But two games under the belt is good for us. I felt for Tonga a little bit in the sense that they didn’t get to play last week and I think once you’ve got your first game out of the way you find your rhythm better. It certainly looked like that from our point of view.
“Hopefully that rolls on to another level on the third week because, I mean, this is what World Cups are all about, weeks that are coming against the reigning world champions. It doesn’t get any better and one thing’s for sure, you know that the Irish are going to turn up and enjoy it as well. So it’s a fantastic week to look forward to.”
