Johnny Sexton has tended not to finish major Ireland test matches in the Joe Schmidt era. Because of injury, concussion or just the be damned way he plays the game.
Schmidt on Sexton is clear and concise. The Ireland No. 10 is declared fit to play.
“We’ve allowed him to build his way back into the week. He trained fully in the Millennium Stadium this morning. We believe he is ready to go.”
But is it a risk, Joe?
“If he’s fit he’s fit. Before we played France in the Six Nations a lot of people asked questions and he was fine. We don’t tend to take too many risks with injured players.
“Johnny, himself, is ready to go.
“There’s risks in everything you do. There’s risks in making the selections we do. There’s risks in trying to implement the strategy we have.”
Regarding the selection of Jordi Murphy, it looks a straight swap for Peter O’Mahony in that Murphy is a similarly mobile and versatile backrower that can be used as a lineout option.
But it’s a worry; O’Mahony was a key component in a lineout run by Paul O’Connell (now being called by Devin Toner).
“We did think of putting Iain Henderson at six and putting Donnacha Ryan in the second row and that may still happen during the game.
“We felt that Paul (O’Connell) is an unbelievably good scrummager for us and Iain is an incredibly strong young man so we felt that added a little bit more ballast to our tight five because the back five have lost a lot of experience.”
Chris Henry’s arrival at openside is not a concern, it’s just the loss of Sean O’Brien’s power that will be severely missed. Rhys Ruddock will undoubtedly see some minutes off the bench. As will Ryan.
