ROARING BACK
Ireland dig deep in Edinburgh to reignite Six Nations campaign but Sexton concussion is a big concern
JOE SCHMIDT hailed his squad for bouncing back against Scotland yesterday, but Ireland’s head coach will be sweating on the fitness of Johnny Sexton after the out-half suffered a concussion during the hard-fought win at Murrayfield.
Sexton was on the receiving end of four big hits before he left the action in the 24th minute, with Joey Carbery taking over at No10.
And Schmidt confirmed that Sexton had failed a head injury assessment (HIA) in his side’s 22-13 win in Edinburgh. ‘Yeah, he copped a stamp,’ said Schmidt. ‘I don’t even think it was a Scottish foot. I think it was one of our guys who tripped over him.’
‘I think that was the first knock and then he got another one so it was a little bit cumulative, really. He got a stamp on
the ankle and it was when they went on to treat that, that they decided he wasn’t 100 per cent and he needed a HIA and he didn’t pass the HIA.’
Sexton played an integral role in Ireland’s second try. A Schmidt special featuring deft handling from Peter O’Mahony and Sexton sent Jacob Stockdale away for a brilliant score.
Sexton was smashed by Scotland prop Allan Dell in the lead-up to Stockdale’s effort and the 33-year-old did not last long after that.
A key strength of Sexton’s game is his ability to take the ball to the line, but it does leave Ireland’s conductor-in-chief vulnerable to late tackles.
‘He certainly got into a few contact situations,’ Schmidt admitted.
‘His pass release for Jacob to get into that space in the set play was perfect. The guy probably could have got to Jacob if he wasn’t as intent on getting at Johnny so sometimes that works to our advantage.’
In Sexton’s absence, it was up to Carbery to steer Ireland to victory. The Munster out-half recovered from throwing a costly intercept, with his scything break and welltimed pass sending Keith Earls over for the matchclinching try.
It was by no means a perfect display from the visitors, but Schmidt was happy to see a rise in intensity and accuracy from his players after the England debacle in Dublin.
‘It’s not even something that you want to be able to say but there definitely was a rise in temperature and an increase in energy,’ said the Kiwi.
‘It’s hard to put your finger on why we just lacked a bit of energy last week but you’ve got to have a lot of energy when you make as many tackles as we did in the first half.
‘We’ve got to make sure we kick on from here’
Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend cited Ireland’s ability to stick to Schmidt’s plan as the key element to victory. In a contest that lacked structure, it was Ireland’s set piece which laid the platform for success.
‘They stuck to their game,’ he said.
‘Obviously they had to deal with injuries. Despite tiring they retained their accuracy and that’s why they won.’