Johnny Sexton could become Ireland’s record points scorer in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup clash against Tonga.
The 38-year-old needs just 10 points to move past Ronan O’Gara’s Test haul of 1,083 for Ireland.
The Lions stalwart insisted however that he will have no thoughts of that record when leading Andy Farrell’s backline against a physical, talented Tonga team in Nantes.
“It’s not something that comes into my head too often,” said Sexton. “It will be a very special moment individually, but no one else will really care.
“I won’t be making decisions based off the back of it. I want to win the game. I want to progress further in the competition. That’s the only thing that’s going through my head at the moment.”
South Africa will take on Romania in Bordeaux on Sunday, with four scrum-halves in their matchday 23.
Cobus Reinach will start in his natural No9 role, with Grant Williams on the wing – and fellow scrum-halves Jaden Hendrikse and Faf de Klerk on the bench.
“From the start people were wondering why we were taking four scrum-halves but if you look at the versatility within that, that’s what we saw,” said Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber.
“Grant Williams played his school career on the wing, while a guy like Cobus can help us out on the wing as well.”
