Cullen concern over Sexton’s fitness ahead of return fixture in Dublin
LEINSTER emerged from last night’s slugfest in Bath with a precious victory, but the Champions Cup holders will be sweating on the fitness of fly-half Johnny Sexton who limped off with five minutes of the contest remaining.
Sexton appeared to be struggling with a calf injury with replacement Ross Byrne slotting the match-clinching penalty in the 73rd minute while the Leinster captain was still on the pitch.
Sexton was replaced two minutes later and head coach Leo Cullen will be hoping to have his No 10 back in action for next Saturday’s visit of Bath to Dublin.
‘Just his calf, I think,’ he said, when asked about the Sexton’s injury.
‘I don’t know if he got a kick on it or what, so we’ll see how he is. I don’t know at this point (if it’s serious), but we’ll see how he is when we get back. I haven’t had a proper check there.’
The visitors struggled for fluency throughout an attritional encounter at the Recreation Ground.
Bath were tough and uncompromising on their home patch, spearheaded by a brilliant breakdown masterclass from flankers Sam Underhill and Francois Louw.
Sean Cronin’s first-half try on the back of a driving lineout maul and Jordan Larmour’s intercept in the second half proved to be the difference.
‘It was a little bit mixed,’ said Cullen.
‘The big thing was the conditions, it’s very difficult to play. We tried a few things in the first half and we probably just misfired. I thought Bath were very aggressive, particularly in the first half and all through the game.
‘I thought the forwards did well to take the opportunity
with the drive. Jordan had a fairly opportune moment in the second half which gets us in the lead.
‘It was limited in terms of quality in the game because of the conditions, but we’ve got a win away from home.
‘There’s a lot of growth for us. We talked about the challenge for us, trying to reintegrate players and get the group back together. It’s tough, especially when you travel away from home against a team that is highly motivated and the conditions are difficult.
‘There’s a hell of a lot of things we can get better at, so we’ll work hard again this week. It’s good that we’ve got a win away from home but we know there’s lots of things we can get better at.’
After yesterday’s disjointed display, Cullen is expecting a far more cohesive and ruthless performance from his squad at Lansdowne Road next weekend.
‘These back-to-back games are such a unique challenge, so we’re not going to take anything for granted now,’ he added.
‘We’ve a big week of work ahead of us.’