Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson both crucial for Ireland, says Iain Henderson
Monday 27 February 2017 14:24, UK
Ireland lock Iain Henderson has claimed both Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson are crucial for the squad, praising the fly-half options at Joe Schmidt's disposal.
Sexton missed Ireland's first two fixtures of the Six Nations due to a calf injury, but returned in the 19-9 victory over France in Dublin on Saturday.
Jackson had ably filled in for Sexton in the defeat to Scotland and the victory against Italy, as he has done in the past on the summer tour to South Africa and the November clash with Australia.
Sexton returned on Saturday however, pulling the strings for 68 minutes before Jackson came on to close the victory out, and Henderson has lauded both his Ulster team-mate Jackson and Leinster playmaker Sexton.
"Johnny [Sexton] gives confidence to the team and has massive experience," said Henderson.
"The boys were all happy with Paddy's [Jackson] performance in Italy but obviously Johnny has a lot of experience, big-game experience and a lot of time playing outside Conor Murray.
"It was great to see him come through the France game unscathed and for Jacko to finish it off as well.
"It's fantastic when you have two fly-halves that everyone has massive confidence in both of them. They can interchange, come on and off and both run the game really well.
"I think it's a really big asset for Ireland to have Paddy on the bench, he's not only playing well but also everyone's got massive confidence in him.
"I thought he played amazingly in South Africa in the summer and then to guide Ireland home in the win over Australia in the autumn.
"Our defeat in Scotland obviously wasn't ideal but even there and again in Italy, he ran the show fantastically well.
"Johnny's massively competitive, and there's always pressure on him and I'm sure when he sees Jacko doing well that just makes him want to get back all the quicker. They work really well together and bounce really well off each other."
Ireland next travel to Cardiff to face Wales on March 10, where victory could set up a winner-takes-all clash with England in Dublin on the final weekend.
"We did ourselves an injustice against Scotland," said Ulster second-row Henderson.
"The Cardiff game will be tough, and they'll be coming all guns blazing and we'll be looking to make a big impact there as well.
"We need to be able to chase our line breaks down now, and we've got to make sure we don't turn over as much ball.
"If we nail those two things down that will go a long way to our phases being a lot better, and our defence needs to be a bit more solid, not giving them any ball.
"I don't think you can ever really rule out Wales at home, especially after a defeat in Scotland that they'll be upset about. I know if we were in their shoes we wouldn't be resting on our laurels we'd be wanting to make an impact, to make sure our home fans we put on the best performance for them."
