For Johnny Sexton, attention quickly turns to All Blacks after marking century in style

Johnny Sexton with a ceremonial sword that he was presented with by Japan after winning his 100th cap for Ireland. Picture: INPHO/Gary Carr

As it was in the beginning, so it was today.

When Johnny Sexton woke up and looked out the window this morning he was presented with the sight of trees being bullied sideways by the wind. Go back 12 years and it was much the same on the day he earned the first of his Ireland caps against Fiji.

We saw certain things that were unfamiliar at the Aviva Stadium as he made it 100 not out. A beaming Sexton. A Sexton with a quivering lip as he spoke post-match. We also saw a lot of the familiar, 15 of his 20 points coming from the boot on a dog of a day for kickers.

Three of his five successful kicks came from a spot where he had chalk underneath his boots but the best of them was the conversion of his own try landed just moments after being mobbed by his teammates and treated to a standing ovation by the crowd.

“I was probably more happy about that than anything,” he said.

The game was over as a contest by then, Japan swamped by a suffocating Ireland defence and sweeping attack, but here was Sexton sticking rigidly to the same routine and standards that had taken him so far and for so long at the top of the game.

This is just what he does.

All six of the other Irishmen to earn 100 caps for their country had messaged him this week. Paul McGrath, a childhood hero, had got in touch on Instagram. Sexton spent much of Friday replying to them, all the while mindful that there was a performance to put in too.

His wasn’t perfect, especially early on when his fingerprints were on a few stutters, but captain and team soon clicked into gear with some scintillating first-half rugby that set the scene for a nine-try 60-5 defeat of Japan.

His own five-pointer arrived shortly after half-time and it prompted a surge to the same right-hand corner by every one of his teammates – even if he did joke afterwards that Andrew Conway hung back in a huff because Sexton hadn’t passed the ball.

"There were very special moments throughout the game,” said the 36-year old who came off to another standing ovation just passed the hour. “Leading out your country for any game is special but to do it today with the crowd today...

“I feel a bit guilty because there are guys like Cian Healy who won his 100th cap and then two of my best friends in the game, Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney, who retired in an empty stadium. So I do feel a bit guilty that I got to this point."

If Japan helped make it a day to remember with their meek performance then they only added to the occasion by presenting the veteran out-half with a samurai sword, much to his delight, after the final whistle.

“To win 100 caps for your country is obviously very special,” said their captain Pieter Labuschagne. “All the accolades coming his way today he deserves. He’s been a great ambassador for rugby for a long time. He really played well on the pitch today as well and so did the rest of his team.”

Such gestures are rare from opposing teams, not least in the immediate aftermath of battle, and that wasn’t lost on Sexton who said that it would be given a prominent place in his home and safely away from his son Luca lest he “bash” his sisters with it.

And Farrell said that the squad would take them time to mark his achievement and those of Tadhg Furlong, who earned his 50th cap, and Dan Sheehan on the occasion that he made his debut, but time is of the essence beyond that.

The All Blacks arrive in Dublin in the coming days on the crest of yet another wave and no doubt mindful of the fact that they came out second best on the last occasion these two sides took a stroll together down Lansdowne Road.

Ireland go into that one on the back of their own positive run of form. That’s half-a-dozen wins on the trot for them now and maybe more notable is the manner in which their performances have begun to improve and their style of play evolve.

Confident, then?

“I don’t think you would every say you are really confident about beating the All Blacks because you need to get away from thinking about the result. You need to go and look after the process and bring out your very best performance and that will give you a chance.

“If you don’t do that you have no chance so will do our analysis on them. They have some really dangerous players and a very good coaching team. They have had some great results of late and we will give them all the attention they deserve but we have to focus on making sure we give our best version of ourselves next Saturday.”

Same as it ever was.