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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Johnny Sexton denies 'jig' celebration after breaking Six Nations scoring record

Johnny Sexton denied he did an "embarrassing" jig of delight after firing over the conversion that sealed Ireland's Grand Slam.

The 37-year-old watched his third conversion of the night split the posts in the 29-16 victory over England- and then he jumped in the air.

When Sexton was later asked about his celebration, Ireland boss Andy Farrell interrupted: It was embarrassing, wasn't it? I was cringing."

READ MORE: Josh Van der Flier praises 'Hero' Johnny Sexton after Grand Slam win

Sexton replied: "I jumped in the air, no? I didn’t dance. I’m not a dancer, I can confirm that."

And Farrell laughed: "He will be tonight!

Skipper Sexton explained the reason for his celebration. "We were 13 points up and so I know that if I kicked it, that would put us three scores clear. That’s why you do all the practice that you do. I was absolutely delighted."

England went up the other end, however, and pulled a quick-fire converted try back with four minutes remaining.

Sexton said he wasn't overly worried as he lay on the ground after the try was scored. "Well, I was lying on my back," he quipped, before admitting the groin injury he suffered trying to stop the visitors "doesn't feel good".

"No, I knew the lads would bring it home," he said. "There’s a lot of experience in this team now to get through tough moments. We went and got another try so it worked out from there.

Record breaker Sexton revealed his lowest point - as he also explained why Ireland's Grand Slam triumph was the highest point of his time under Farrell.

And Sexton hopes tonight's triumph isn't the highest point this Ireland team can climb with the World Cup to come in September.

Sexton became the all-time top scorer in the Six Nations championship when he fired over an 18th minute penalty.

Afterwards, the Dubliner reflected on the difference between Ireland losing a Six Nations title chance in Paris in 2020 when he left the pitch in a strop to the ecstasy of yesterday's celebrations as Ireland won the Slam in Dublin for the first time.

Sexton's comments came as he paid tribute to how Andy Farrell guided Ireland back to world number one and to the Six Nations crown - having built foundations back up in the wake of the 2019 World Cup and a meek quarter-final exit at the hands of the All Blacks.

"He's been able to bounce back after, how do I put this, I let myself down when I was taken off against France," he said.

"That was probably the low point, a real low point for me. And, this is a high point - but I hope it's not the highest point.

"To come here and win a Grand Slam, it was an incredibly special day and we need to go and enjoy it over the next couple of days."

Farrell was Ireland's defence coach under Joe Schmidt before succeeding the Kiwi three and a half years ago.

"Since day one, he's put his own stamp on it," said Sexton.

"I think the best thing about him is he hasn't changed one bit from going from assistant to head coach, he's still very popular even with the lads he doesn't pick.

"He’s a very special coach. When you have him, Paul O’Connell, Simon Easterby, Catty (Mike Catt), John Fogarty all motivating you during the week, it’s a very special dressing room to be part of.

"All credit to him really for putting it together and yeah, roll on the World Cup.

"That’s the goal, isn’t it? That’s what we spoke about building towards - this is a part of the journey and it’s very special, like the series in New Zealand was very special.

"You don’t have to have a poor Six Nations to go on and win the World Cup. When England won in 2003, they had a Grand Slam before it.

"We need to keep our feet on the ground and keep building. There’s a lot of guys who have missed this campaign who are going to come back and put pressure on the guys who have played in this campaign.

"And that’s what we need. Come World Cup time, we’ll need 40, 45 players, all at the same level, fighting for positions."

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