History made.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton made his long-awaited return yesterday after nearly six months out through injury and suspension – and he didn’t miss a beat.

Sexton looked hugely impressive, albeit against Romania, controlling the game well and bagging himself two tries in the process.

Ireland ran in 12 tries in a massive 82-8 win over the Romanians to get their campaign off to the perfect start and the captain was over the moon with how everything went on the day.

“I’m delighted with the result and to get a points difference like that,” Sexton said after the game.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game at the start, especially with Romania being very physical and they certainly didn’t let us down in that regard.

“I said to the boys we’ll fill out the stadium and thankfully the supporters didn’t make a liar of me. These are unbelievable days they give us. So from us, thank you very much, and I hope we gave them something to cheer about.”

Sexton was then congratulated on becoming Ireland’s oldest player with his appearance yesterday at 38 years and 58 days, overtaking John Hayes – and he was a bit thrown off!

“Age is just a number, isn’t it? I’m delighted to be back to get to experience something like this,” Sexton said.

“It’s been a long time out… sorry that threw me a bit!”

Johnny clearly hadn’t a clue about his latest record and even asked if it was Rory Best he had overtaken. And, interestingly, that was not the only record Sexton broke yesterday. He also became Ireland’s record Rugby World Cup points scorer.

Not a bad day at the office.