Sexton: 'I don't have any say in selection, I just rock up to training and do my best'
NO SAY IN SELETION: Ireland captain Johnny Sexton says he has no say in his selection. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Johnny Sexton insists his sole focus on helping Ireland beat Tonga this Saturday and not breaking Ronan O’Gara’s record as Ireland’s highest points scorer.
The Ireland captain will lead Ireland once again when they make their second World Cup appearance in Pool B after he was retained at fly-half for the Stade de la Beaujoire clash, leading another strong side following an opening weekend 82-8 victory over Romania in Bordeaux.
Coming into his fourth and final World Cup before retirement at the end of the tournament Sexton, 38, played his first rugby for six months following injury and suspension in the bonus-point win. In doing so he became Ireland’s oldest player and equalled David Humphries’ Irish World Cup record points tally for a single game.
His 24-point total from two tries and seven conversions matched Humphries’ performance against Argentina in 1999 and also left him needing just nine points this Saturday to surpass O’Gara’s Irish-record 1083 points in all Tests.
Yet the record will not play a factor in his thinking come kick-off in Nantes on Saturday night.
"It's not something that comes into my head too often,” Sexton said on Thursday following the team announcement which came shortly after the Ireland squad arrived by train in the Brittany city from their training base in Tours.
"Obviously I was unaware how close I was after the game last week until I came into the press conference and so now I'm getting reminded again.
"Look, it will be a very special moment individually but no-one else will really care, none of my team-mates are...I won't be making decisions off the back of it.
"I want to win the game, I want to progress further in the competition and that is the only thing going through my head at the moment.”
Sexton’s potential selection had been a big talking point following his 65-minute shift against the Romanians with Andy Farrell saying the matter would be guided by conversations between captain and head coach in their post-match press conference in Bordeaux.
Asked on Thursday whether Farrell had need some convincing in that conversation, Sexton replied: “I don't have any say in selection, I just rock up to training and do my best. Obviously I want to play, I mean when you only have a certain amount of games left of course you want to play.
"But it's what is right for the team, what is right for different individuals and that was probably all taken into consideration but no, I didn't have to do much talking.”
Sexton will have fellow test centurion Conor Murray alongside him at half-back, the scrum-half coming off the bench to replace Jamison Gibson-Park, with Craig Casey moving onto the replacements as back-up ahead of a potential World Cup debut.
Murray is one of four personnel changes to the team which started against the Romanians in a 12-try hammering. Mack Hansen comes onto the right wing in place of Keith Earls who drops out of the matchday 23, while the other two switches come in the forward pack with Ronan Kelleher starting at hooker , also for his tournament debut, as Rob Herring moves to the bench, while Josh van der Flier is returned to openside flanker as Peter O’Mahony moves across the back row to blindside with Tadhg Beirne vacating that position to return to the second row.
There is still no comeback for first-choice hooker Dan Sheehan following the foot injury he sustained against England on August 19, with No.8 Jack Conan also absent with a similar problem suffered a fortnight earlier against Italy, having been ruled out earlier in the week.
On the bench there is an opportunity for props Dave Kilcoyne, back from a hamstring problem, and potential World Cup debutant Finlay Bealham to make their first appearances of the tournament, likewise back-row replacement Ryan Baird, another waiting for his World Cup bow.
Sexton’s cover as fly-half will be Ross Byrne while Robbie Henshaw, who was withdrawn from last weekend’s matchday squad as a precaution, is the outside back replacement.
It is another formidable line-up for the world number one-ranked side as they build toward a showdown with South Africa in Paris in eight days and Farrell was asked if he was tempted to rotate his squad more against Tier Two opposition this weekend.
"There's always temptation because as far as selection is concerned we go through every different type of permutation but at the end of the day it's what is right for the team,” the head coach said.
"Finding form, that side that played last week, hadn't played together before, we get to roll onto this one and you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, really in some circumstances but the only thing that I care about is winning this weekend because the points that are on offer is exactly the same as what's coming down the line.
"I suppose it's as simple as that and you look at what could happen, what does happen to people in training, you give people a so-called rest and you've seen people...I mean, we had Robbie pull out of our captain's run last week and miss the game, you have players now getting injured in training and missing the competition.
"So people could be rested this weekend and be ill for next weekend etc, so we'd like to go with what we've got, a fit side, a good side and build the momentum throughout the competition.”
: H Keenan (Leinster); M Hansen (Connacht), G Ringrose (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Sexton (Leinster) – captain, C Murray (Munster); A Porter (Leinster), R Kelleher (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster); T Beirne (Munster), J Ryan (Leinster); P O’Mahony (Munster), J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).
: R Herring (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), F Bealham (Connacht), , I Henderson (Ulster), R Baird (Leinster), C Casey (Munster), R Byrne (Leinster), R Henshaw (Leinster).
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