Joe Schmidt sure Ireland's Johnny Sexton will rebound from latest injury absence
Friday 3 February 2017 13:33, UK
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt is backing Johnny Sexton to dominate the Six Nations when he is able to return from injury.
Sexton misses Ireland's opening game of the tournament against Scotland on Saturday with a calf issue and Schmidt says he is only an "outside chance" to be back for their trip to Italy on February 11.
But Schmidt says Sexton's constant battle with injury - he missed the summer series with South Africa after shoulder surgery - should not take away from his position as one of world rugby's leading fly-halves.
Schmidt will instead hand Paddy Jackson the No 10 shirt and is sure the Ulster man will prove a more than able fill-in.
"There's no one more frustrated than Johnny himself. He was incredibly motivated for this championship," Schmidt said.
"For us he's probably played 82 minutes in the last eight Test matches, so for us it's a real frustration.
"But in the Six Nations campaigns that I've been involved in, Johnny has dominated our number 10 position, so we're still hopeful he can come back in and do that for us.
"But at the same time Paddy Jackson has done really well.
"Paddy played all three Tests against South Africa, he played against Australia and came off the bench for Johnny against the All Blacks, so it's not like he hasn't had good experience."
Schmidt also played down concerns over Sexton's long-term durability and he is sure the Leinster No 10 will play a big part in his side's championship effort.
"I don't think there's many players that don't go through a period of injury and a little bit of bad luck," he added.
"It was a very minor injury going into the Castres match and it just triggered an extension of that injury. It's just for us getting him 100 per cent fit before we get him back out there.
"I think it's a bit like [when] Rob Kearney last year had a series of continual injuries, but he's been really robust for us this year. Things tend to ebb and flow a bit, but hopefully they will flow a bit better in the back end of the championship."
