Johnny Sexton becomes Ireland’s record points scorer in victory against Tonga

In context of an intensely demanding Pool B, this proved to be almost a perfect night for Ireland in Nantes. An attacking bonus point was secured by half-time, the game all but won. The inspirational and apparently ever-improving fly-half Johnny Sexton crossed for his third try of tournament, overtaking Ronan O’Gara to become his country’s leading points scorer on 1,090. By the end Ireland had scored eight tries, making it 20 for the tournament, their momentum gathering nicely, thank you very much.

Perhaps most importantly, this endlessly impressive Ireland side were subjected to a significant test by Tonga, who were just as physical, hungry and well-drilled as the head coach, Andy Farrell, had predicted.

With no fewer than four former New Zealand internationals in their starting XV, Tonga hit hard and often. They competed hungrily at the breakdown, winning penalties and generating turnover ball as a result.

It was abundantly clear from the start that Ireland would have their work cut out – the only problem for Tonga was that they failed to build any kind of continuity in attack for themselves.

There is no chance of the world’s No 1 team going into next weekend’s long-awaiting match against the world champions South Africa without a few battle scars – and that is exactly the way Farrell and his coaching team would want it. Sexton was withdrawn at half-time, that points record secured, and the relative lack of scoreboard jeopardy will have been welcome for the head coach in his effort to manage his playing resources.

With a quarter of the match gone Ireland were being held at 3-3, and that was a fair reflection of the efforts of both teams. But the second quarter was an entirely different tale, and predictably it was the class and awareness of Sexton that ripped open Tonga’s defence for the first time.

The fly-half fizzed a perfect pass to a sprinting the No 8 Caelan Doris, charging into the 22, who in turn offloaded smartly for Tadhg Beirne to stretch for the tryline under the posts after 21 minutes.

It was nip and tuck, but when Solomone Kata needlessly followed through on James Lowe after a clearing kick by the Ireland wing, the result was a penalty that was kicked by Sexton deep into the opposition 22. Doris barged over from short range after another smooth lineout by Farrell’s side – significantly, after a few hiccups last week, they won 11 out of 11 lineouts in the first half. They also had two tries on the board with 26 minutes played.

Mack Hansen was soon cutting in from the right wing after more impressive continuity in attack. The wing collected a bouncing ball but made light work of that minor detail, dancing past Charles Piutau and beyond several more rather half-hearted challenges to cross for the third Ireland try.

Two minutes before half-time, another slick Irish passing move ended with Garry Ringrose offloading to Sexton. The irrepressible 38-year-old glided under the posts and touched down, celebrating demonstratively with his teammates having surpassed O’Gara.

That four-try burst had seemingly overwhelmed Tonga but they were soon causing problems down at the other end. The Ireland No 6, Peter O’Mahony, was shown a yellow card before Vaea Fifita’s sniping score clawed the Pacific islanders back. By half-time the scoreboard read 31-13, the fly-half William Havili having kicked two neat penalties and a conversion.

Havili was at it again after the break, adding another penalty and narrowing the gap to 15, with Ireland’s replacement front-rower Rob Herring then denied a try for a double movement. But the Tongan defence was visibly tiring, with Lowe and then Bundee Aki crossing to put the match beyond Toutai Kefu’s spirited bunch of players, before Herring did get his try right at the end.

All eyes on next Saturday in Paris, then. South Africa will be several levels above Tonga, but Ireland have nothing to fear.