Ireland's head coach, Andy Farrell, has admitted that he was very happy with Ireland's attacking display in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup against Romania on Saturday.
Ireland's 82-8 win was their biggest-ever World Cup score and margin of victory, but for five minutes of the first half, they didn't have it all their own way.
Romania, ranked 19th in the world, scored the first try through halfback Gabriel Rupanu.
However, Ireland went on to score 12 tries in the opening game. Scores from Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, Tadhg Beirne (2), Aki (2), Sexton (2), Rob Herring, Peter O'Mahony (2), and Joe McCarthy ensured that Ireland got off to a winning start in Bordeaux.
Speaking after the game, Farrell was asked if he was happy with the scoreline and responded by saying,"In hindsight, before the game, if you asked us if we'd be happy with the scoreline? Of course, we would.
"I actually thought at halftime we had a few things to sort out. I thought we stopped the flow of our game quite a bit in regards to a few errors in our game and discipline, and got a little bit frantic with our communications. Certainly after linebreaks, there were a few passes on the floor, etc.
"After the break, we were very composed. I thought we showed our intent, our togetherness as a team, how in-sync we were with the ball in hand. Our fitness was great, and our skill level was pretty good as well."
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Ireland flanker Peter O'Mahony added that Romania's opening try was a 'right wake-up call' for the team before the eventual romping.
"Credit to Romania," Ireland flanker Peter O'Mahony added. "You saw the way they showed up. In the first three minutes, they put us under the sticks. It was a real wake-up call for us - 'welcome to World Cup 2023,' you know what I mean?
"But it was a pleasure coming out here today. The fans here - off-the-wall stuff - and 80 points in our first one, we'll take that!"
Ireland captain Sexton converted seven of his eight conversions, and now sits just nine points shy of Ronan O'Gara's national record points tally of 1083.
After 25-weeks without a game of competive rugby, the Leinster star admitted that he was delighted to be back on the pitch
"I'm delighted to be back to get to experience something like this. It's been a long time out," Sexton said.
"You can train all you want, but until you're in a proper match it doesn't test you properly. I'm delighted just to get some minutes under my belt."
Ireland next meet Tonga in Nantes next Saturday while Romania return to Bordeaux against South Africa on Sunday, September 17.
See More: 2023 Rugby World Cup, Ireland
