Not for the first time, Ireland captain Johnny Sexton defied the fact he had endured a lengthy stint away from the green jersey with an impressive performance during Saturday’s win over Romania.
An injury picked up in the Grand Slam decider against England on St Patrick’s weekend, combined with a ban for his behaviour towards referee Jaco Peyper following the Champions Cup final, ensured it had been more than five months since his last competitive action before Saturday.
“Let’s not undersell this,” said his former team-mate Gordon D’Arcy on The Irish Times’ post-match Twitter (now X) space. “He [Sexton] looked like he’s never been away. He was composed, he was taking the ball to the line, he was making passes, Ireland were in rude health in that game.”
Sexton has had lengthy periods on the sidelines in the past. In 2014, during his time in Paris with Racing, he was stood down for 12 weeks after multiple concussions in quick succession. Similarly, in 2021, Leinster opted to rest him after a third failed HIA in the space of nine weeks.
He didn’t play between April 10th and September 25th, 2021, returning for Leinster’s season opener where their attack purred to the tune of a 31-3 victory over the Bulls. That 158-day gap was not as long as the 175 days between Saturday and Sexton’s last match against England on March 18th. Sexton scored 24 points on Saturday, while also marshalling an Irish backline which broke the line almost at will.
“You’ve got to go and show it,” said Sexton when asked about how he approaches a return to competition after such a long gap. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve trained hard, when it comes to the game the pressure is different, the intensity is different.
“So, I definitely needed a game for sure to test it out. I’m happy with some stuff, and not so happy with other things. Like every game, I don’t think you ever play a game where you’re 100 per cent happy.”
Tale of the numbers
A cursory look at the data behind Ireland’s record win over Romania largely matches up to the eye test. Ireland’s handling and offloading was at times mesmerising, but the lineout struggled.
Some 355 post-contact metres reflects Ireland’s ability to dominate collisions and free the hands. The ability to regularly break the line with ease ensured Ireland were still efficient inside the 22 despite a number of errors that did occur; 3.9 points per 22 entry represents a satisfactory return.
Quick ruck ball was undoubtedly key to this attacking success. 81 per cent of Ireland’s ruck lasted between zero and three seconds, a figure that dwarfs Romania’s equivalent of 48 per cent. Given the Oaks came into the contest renowned as one of the Tier 2 nations that was able to secure good quality ball from their breakdowns, Ireland will be happy with how they dominated on the floor.
By contrast, a set-piece success rate of 80 per cent will rankle. Both hookers, Rob Herring and Ronan Kelleher, had some of their lineout ball pilfered. Ireland’s internal analysis no doubt will apportion blame to throwers, lifters and jumpers accordingly. Bear in mind Tadhg Furlong single-handedly won multiple scrum penalties, meaning the lineout malfunctioned to the extent that Ireland only secured 80 per cent of their set-piece ball. Penny for Paul O’Connell’s thoughts as Ireland’s lineout woes from the warm-up games linger.
All data from Opta.
Another day, another card
It wouldn’t be a World Cup opening weekend without a debate about yet another red card for head contact. On Saturday evening, English backrow Tom Curry was given his marching orders for his role in a head-on-head collision with Juan Mallía.
Initially a yellow, World Rugby’s new TMO bunker system later upgraded the card to red.
While this incident is unlikely to attract the same furore of Owen Farrell’s card, non-card and then suspension earlier this summer, a debate on the validity of the card has already started in advance of Tuesday’s hearing that will determine if Curry is banned.
Former England international Freddie Burns said the decision “winds him up”.
“Curry no real intent, can’t let the guy run through him ... I know I’m English and slightly bias[ed] but I don’t understand it,” he said on social media.
Andy Goode, another former international, was of the opposite opinion. “Responsibility is on the defender and if he’s upright and there’s head contact and he’s accelerated towards the collision then it’s a red.
Either way, Curry’s card and the yellow that was shown to Santiago Carreras in the same game threaten to throw up yet another new confusion. As part of the new TMO bunker system, the TV graphics display a half red, half yellow card on the scoreboard until the final decision on the colour is made.
Pity anyone tuning in 10 minutes late to Saturday’s match to see both sides with a half yellow and half red card. So much for making rugby less confusing when it has its biggest audience.
By the Numbers: 3
France have now beaten New Zealand three times at World Cups. No other side has beaten the All Blacks that many times at the global showpiece.
Word of Mouth
“You would think if selected that he’d be able to get that record.” Andy Farrell on Sexton moving to within nine points of Ronan O’Gara’s Ireland points record. “If selected ...”
