Declan Rice "was never going to celebrate" after scoring against the Republic of Ireland in England's 2-0 Nations League victory.
The midfielder was met by a hostile crowd in Dublin having previously represented Ireland before changing allegiance to England.
But Rice had the last laugh, lashing home in the 11th minute before teeing up Jack Grealish, who previously represented Ireland at youth level, to seal a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side.
It marked his fourth goal for the Three Lions but Rice did not feel the need for celebrations.
"Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate. I have Irish family, my nan and grandad, who are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated," he told beIN Sports.
"It happened six, seven years ago so it’s such a long time ago now. I get on really well with a lot of the Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by, by me. Obviously, the fans feel a certain way, and that’s absolutely fine.
"I just wanted to focus and get my head back in the game to score more goals."
The last time Rice had played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was six years and 97 days prior to Saturday's match. On that occasion, he represented Ireland against the USA in June 2018.
Now in the white shirt of England, Rice helped interim manager Carsley to a debut win in Dublin after the resignation of Gareth Southgate following Euro 2024.
"It's been refreshing this week to play with [Carsley] and play with his staff. We're playing in a different way to what we were before," reflected Rice.
"It's going to take a bit of time for us to be amazing at what we do, but a lot of the players that play at [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Arsenal, we play a similar way, so it's easy to adapt.
"It was really good, it was really refreshing. I'm feeling much fitter in myself which is a real positive. It was a really good result in the end."
While Rice now represents a relative stalwart of the England squad with 59 caps, former England Under-21s manager Carsley, himself an ex-Ireland international, handed debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, while he also played Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill from the start.
"We've obviously been really close now in back-to-back Euros, at a World Cup, so the next thing for England is to win," said Rice.
"We need to strive and keep building towards that. It’s a different group this time, more younger players, but I'm sure we’ll be better for it. Going forward, it's going to be really positive, and it's going to be a fresh start."
Deschamps 'not changing course' despite Italy defeat
Didier Deschamps will "not change course" ahead of France's Nations League clash with Belgium despite defeat to Italy in their last match.
France fell to a shock 3-1 loss in Paris in their opening Group A2 game at the Parc des Princes on Friday.
Deschamps handed debuts to Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and Roma's Manu Kone, who came on as a substitute.
The France manager, however, feels he must continue with the rotation against Belgium due to the structure of World Cup qualification.
"The six Nations League matches must be used to introduce new players and distribute playing time," Deschamps told reporters.
"If we had a different schedule and were playing World Cup qualifiers, I would not have chosen this course, that's for sure. But I chose it because I believe that we have to go through it. I'm not going to change course."
Despite Bradley Barcola scoring France's fastest goal ever after just 12 seconds, Italy were able to come back and win comfortably.
Prior to that meeting, France had not lost to Italy since June 2008. Deschamps will be hoping for an improved performance against Belgium, who his team beat 1-0 in the round of 16 at Euro 2024.
"I can't be satisfied with the match against Italy, nor can the players. Tomorrow is another game, another context, a different team with the same obligation," he added.
"The course I have taken is to give as much playing time to as many players as possible. Whatever the playing time, there is always pressure, you have to perform as well as possible."
France face Belgium in the Nations League on Monday at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
Sri Lanka close in on victory despite Smith flurry
Sri Lanka enjoyed a profitable third day at The Oval, with the tourists in a strong position to win their final Test against England despite Jamie Smith's efforts.
The day started well for England. Dhananjaya de Silva (69) and Kamindu Mendis (64) had steered Sri Lanka into an excellent place at stumps on Saturday, though the duo did not last too long in Sunday's first session.
It took just 11 more overs for England to rattle through Sri Lanka's tail as they were bowled out for 263, 62 short of the hosts' first innings total.
Yet England were skittled out for 156 in the space of just 34 overs.
Dan Lawrence plundered 35 runs from as many balls, but he was the only player in England's top order to score more than 12, and it needed a flurry from wicketkeeper Smith to dig Brendan McCullum's team out of a real hole.
Smith smashed 67 from 50 deliveries, with his knock including 10 fours and one six, before he picked out Kusal Mendis with the final ball of the second session.
Lahiru Kumara (4-12) was the pick of Sri Lanka's bowlers, and he sent Olly Stone packing after tea, prior to Shoaib Bashir succumbing after debutant Josh Hull struck a huge six.
Chasing 219 to win, Sri Lanka's openers swiftly set about the pace, and though Dimuth Karunaratne was caught and bowled by Chris Woakes, Pathum Nissanka (53 not out) and Kusal Mendis (30) ensured the tourists will go into day four requiring just 125.
Data Debrief: England's Oval record on the rocks and Root is forced to wait
Sri Lanka are on the brink of just their fourth Test win in England, having previously won at Headingley, Trent Bride and The Oval, where England have won five of their last six five-day matches, only going down to India in 2021 in that run.
That record looks shaky, while Joe Root, having only managed 12 runs to add to his 13 from the first innings, will not be able to reach 1,000 overall in Tests in 2024 on home soil.
He is now on 986, but will have to wait until at least October, for England's Tour of Pakistan, to equal Alastair Cook as the English player to have hit 1,000 runs in a calendar year on the most occasions (five), after previously doing so in 2022, 2021, 2016 and 2015.
Ten Hag not the deciding factor for De Ligt in Man Utd move
Matthijs de Ligt has dismissed suggestions that Erik ten Hag was the deciding factor in his transfer to Manchester United.
The Dutchman, along with Noussair Mazraoui, joined the Red Devils in a double signing worth up to £60million from Bayern Munich in August.
De Ligt's breakthrough, however, came at Ajax under Ten Hag, with the manager making him the youngest-ever captain in the club's history during that time.
The following season, Ajax reached their first Champions League semi-final since 1997 and won the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup double before De Ligt left the club to join Juventus.
Ten Hag has often been criticised for targeting his former players during the transfer windows while at United, with De Ligt falling into that category.
However, the defender stressed a reunion with his former head coach was not what drew him to the Premier League.
"I'm already settled in Manchester and enjoying myself. The boys are great, everything was handled perfectly. There's also many Dutch guys on the staff", he told Dutch outlet Vandaag Inside, via Manchester Evening News.
"Erik ten Hag is not the only reason I joined United. We're talking about Manchester United here, one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"There's lots of pressure because the fans are used to things from the past. It's up to us to be as good as possible."
The 25-year-old has played just 89 minutes in the Premier League since joining United, getting his first start in their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool last time out, making just one interception and one tackle.
De Ligt was in the Netherlands' squad for Euro 2024, as the Oranje reached the semi-final, however, he did not play a single minute at the tournament.
Back in the fold for their first two Nations League matches, two lapses in concentration from De Ligt were punished against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Netherlands' 5-2 victory.
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