Johnny Sexton’s milestone and a purple kit – Ireland v Japan talking points

Ireland will bid to record a sixth successive win when they begin their autumn campaign against Japan in Dublin.

Saturday afternoon’s Aviva Stadium fixture precedes appointments with New Zealand and Argentina at the same venue in the next fortnight.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the main talking points ahead of the visit of the Brave Blossoms.

Johnny Sexton’s milestone

Johnny Sexton is poised to become only the seventh player to win 100 caps for Ireland. The team captain will follow in the footsteps of Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara, Rory Best, Cian Healy, Paul O’Connell and John Hayes. The burning question remains whether the veteran fly-half can continue until the 2023 World Cup, by which time he will be 38. Head coach Andy Farrell dismissed concerns about that at his pre-match press conference, challenging Ireland’s other fly-half hopefuls – including weekend back-up Joey Carbery – to knock “world-class” Sexton “off his perch”.

Leinster dominance

Alarmingly for the other three provinces, Ireland’s starting XV contains 12 Leinster players. In addition to that, Munster pair Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Conway came through the ranks at the Dublin-based club. Connacht’s New Zealand-born centre Bundee Aki is the sole representative without Leinster connections. Forwards coach O’Connell stressed that players’ provincial allegiances never play a part in selection. However, he also expects the line-up to serve as motivation for Munster, Ulster and Connacht and their respective production lines.

All-time Lowe

Ireland hoping to continue purple patch

In a move which has not proved entirely popular, the hosts will ditch their traditional green home jerseys for the game. Farrell’s men – who have achieved five successive wins  – will instead run out in a purple alternative strip. In addition to the lukewarm reception to that news, fans have not exactly been flocking to buy tickets. Saturday’s match had the potential to be the first capacity crowd for a rugby match at the Aviva Stadium since the pandemic took hold early last year. However, as of Friday afternoon, thousands of seats remained available, meaning the stands are likely to be far from full.

Japan set to blossom?