The 38-year-old fly-half went into the match, which was his 115th cap, at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes nine points behind Ronan O'Gara's total of 1,083.

However, Sexton's 38th minute try meant he broke the Munster man's record following nine points from the kicking tee earlier in the match.

Sexton, who made his Ireland debut in 2009, announced that he will retire from the sport at the end of the World Cup where his nation is one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

This year's Six Nations Grand Slam winners Ireland moved clear atop Pool B with early tries from Tadhg Beirne, Caelan Doris and Mack Hansen before Sexton went over.

A Bundee Aki double and tries from James Lowe and Rob Herring then capped off the win. 

Earlier in the day, Samoa began their World Cup campaign with an eventually comfortable bonus-point win over Chile in Bordeaux.

The Chileans put up a good fight in the first half, as they took the lead through a try from Matias Dittus but were eventually overpowered 43-10 in the Pool D clash.

Samoa were dominant in the second half as they scored four tries through Jonathan Taumateine, Fritz Lee and a Sama Malolo brace.

"You can see by the support here, it feels like all of Chile flew over, which is great, it's what you want," said Samoa captain Michael Ala'alatoa.

"They probably caught us a bit off-guard at first but it was great to get that try before half-time and get the momentum back our way."

Pool C saw Wales put in an unconvincing performance to beat a Portugal side featuring some semi-professional players 28-8 at the Allianz Riviera in Nice.

Portugal put Wales to work in the first half but still found themselves 14-3 down going into the break after tries from Louis Rees-Zammit and captain Dewi Lake.

Scores from Jac Morgan and Taulupe Faletau then sandwiched a Portuguese try from Nicolas Martins.

The only other match between the two sides ended 102-11 to Wales in 1994 in what was a much more commanding display from the Welsh.

Tomorrow's schedule sees South Africa play Romania in Pool B, Australia take on Fiji in Pool C, and a Pool D meeting between England and Japan.