Sexton shines as Ireland start Rugby World Cup with 12-try rout of Romania

Nothing to see here. Just a routine 12-try, 80-point romp for Ireland in stifling heat. Quite a triumph, then, but the real win was the seeming lack of any significant injuries. There are unlikely to be any further soft matches for Ireland, so ferocious is Pool B. The main surprise was the strength of the team they fielded against Romania. Happily, the run-out was a success from almost all angles.

Johnny Sexton, making his return to the lineup, was the headline selection. He negotiated the assignment without mishap, if “without mishap” is not damning a haul of 24 points with faint praise. Peter O’Mahony will put heat on the selectors in Ireland’s back row. He scored two tries and was named man of the match, but the real star was Bundee Aki, who lay waste the Romanian defence on countless occasions and had a hand in most of the early tries, when one might have considered the match still somewhat “alive”.

Indeed, it may amuse historians to note that the first points in the 82-8 rout were scored by the routed. The game was very much alive then.

No one seriously thought an upset was in the offing when Romania scored in the third minute. For a start, that is far too early to score an underdog try, if those underdogs are serious about defending a lead. But when Hinckley Vaovasa nonchalantly ran back a loose Sexton kick and turned the ball inside for Gabriel Rupanu to run home, notice had been served that Pool B’s supposed whipping boys can play a bit.

When underdogs bite big dogs so early on, it serves only to make the latter angry. Sure enough, Ireland responded two minutes later. This time Sexton hit his customary right note to put Aki half-through, and Aki put Garry Ringrose fully through. His inside ball put Jamison Gibson-Park away for Ireland’s opener.

And so the procession began. It is difficult to set Ireland’s performance in context. Certainly they paraded all their usual flicks and loops, a variety of options presenting themselves to each and every ball carrier. Plenty of passes went to floor, but when it clicked a try generally ensued. And, lest we become too dismissive of the challenge they faced, Romania fielded three 17st-plus players who hurled themselves into the fray with gusto. Caelan Doris, Aki et al handled it without fuss.

Aki scored Ireland’s fourth, for a bonus point in the 34th minute. After Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Beirne tries in the first quarter, he took a starring turn in Ireland’s fifth on the stroke of half-time, when he stepped clear to send Sexton to the posts.

Ireland’s captain scored two tries and seven conversions for that haul. More importantly, he emerged unscathed, although there were murmurs of concern when he hurt an arm in the act of scoring the first, objecting to Jason Tomane’s attempt to stop him. Once he’d scored and converted his second at the start of the final quarter, he was promptly withdrawn to a bed of cotton wool.

The score was a mere 54-8 at that point. Ireland ran in a further four tries as Romania wilted. Jack Crowley replaced Sexton to convert them all, O’Mahony’s second from the touchline. So he enjoyed himself as well. Hopefully they all did. Because the frolics in Pool B are about to end.