Johnny Sexton out of Ireland's Six Nations clash with italy
Friday 10 February 2017 13:01, UK
Ireland have refused to gamble on Johnny Sexton's Six Nations fitness for Saturday's crunch clash with Italy in Rome.
Ireland's first-choice fly-half missed the 27-22 loss in Scotland with calf trouble and was only ever handed an outside chance of facing Italy, so head coach Joe Schmidt has again turned to Paddy Jackson to run his backline.
Sexton has not played since Leinster's 24-24 draw at Castres on January 20, but Ireland still expect the 31-year-old to be ready to face France in Dublin on February 25.
The fit-again Donnacha Ryan replaces Iain Henderson at lock after Ireland missed the Munster man's wily tight work in Edinburgh.
Ryan and Cian Healy slot in to start in the only changes from the galling Scotland defeat, with Ireland's Kiwi boss Schmidt challenging the bulk of those players to provide immediate atonement - a second defeat would all but end their Six Nations title challenge.
Connacht's Ultan Dillane is preferred to Henderson as the lock cover on the bench, with Ulster wing Craig Gilroy also named among the replacements.
Ireland's bus was 15 minutes late arriving at Murrayfield last Saturday, with Schmidt later admitting his players were unsettled by a rushed warm-up.
Now the former Leinster coach has demanded his players quickly devise far better coping strategies for similar unforeseen issues.
"I have challenged them for a better start in Italy," said Schmidt. "I think it's incredibly disappointing the way we started last weekend.
"I don't think it was apathy, there was a bit of anxiety at not having had the full period to warm up.
"Players get anxious, they get very routine-based and I do think it's a challenge for a professional player that they can be adaptable in different circumstances, so they can still start well and cope."
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Devin Toner, 6 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Craig Gilroy
