Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sexton is raring to go again
Monday night, as revealed by the IRFU yesterday morning, fuelled fears that Andy Farrell would be relying on Byrne – who hasn’t played for Ireland in 18 months – or one of his Test debutants last weekend, Jack Crowley, to fill the void at out-half.
But the 37-year-old is motoring once more and is poised to make his 110th Ireland appearance in the Aviva Stadium encounter with the Wallabies, who have lost to France and Italy in the last two weeks.
Sexton was a crucial factor in the victory over the Springboks, despite suffering the injury early in the second half, before sitting out what Farrell described as a “pretty underwhelming” win against Fiji last Saturday.
Byrne, 27, remains trusted by Leinster but hasn’t played for Ireland since coming off the bench to win his 14th Test cap in the Six Nations defeat of England in 2021.
Sexton’s primary back-up Joey Carbery returned to Munster to complete the necessary protocols after failing to return from a HIA against Fiji last Saturday.
With Farrell constantly rotating that third out-half selection behind Sexton and Carbery, Ciarán Frawley was next in line for a debut in the No.10 role but he is out for three to four months after twisting his knee in Ireland A’s loss to the All Blacks XV 11 days ago.
However Crowley, 24, stepped up and was impressive in a cameo role off the bench against the Pacific Islanders.
Farell will name his side for the game tomorrow afternoon as Ireland look to maintain their formidable home record heading into the 2023 Six Nations.