Why isn’t Johnny Sexton playing for Ireland against France in the Six Nations and when will he return?
IRELAND are visiting France in a match that could decide the fate of the Six Nations.
But they’ve been dealt a massive blow as captain Johnny Sexton will play no part.
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Why isn’t Johnny Sexton playing for Ireland against France?
Johnny Sexton will not play for Ireland in Paris after he pulled up with a hamstring strain in training.
Head coach Andy Farrell said: “It’s just training, he was doing a bit of everything so had an awareness and he pulled out of training before anything serious happened.
Farrell added that the 36-year-old has still travelled with the squad to Paris to lend his experience.
He commented: “It is what it is and that is the sport that we love, there are always twists and turns within a Six Nations competition.
“It’s a long old competition, it spans over eight weeks for us so there is always going to be things that we have to deal with.
“Johnny is an important member of our group being skipper of the side, he is integral to how we push forward with many parts of our environment but at the same time, this is just about the group.
“Johnny will travel with us and will be as leading as he possibly can be but this is about the group.
“It is a great development for us as a team going forward as well and we still expect ourselves to be at our best in Paris on Saturday.”
When will Johnny Sexton return?
Johnny Sexton’s injury is not set to keep him out of the entire Six Nations.
And he could even be back in time for the match against Italy at the Aviva Stadium in two weeks.
Andy Farrell said: “It’s a small hamstring strain that is definitely going to keep him out for this weekend but we don’t envisage it being difficult at all.
“He might be a week to ten days but what we don’t want to do is risk anything and make that worse and take him out of the competition completely.
“We expect him to be back pretty soon.”
Who will replace Johnny Sexton?
Andy Farrell has selected Munster’s Joey Carbery to play at ten in Sexton’s absence.
Leinster lock James Ryan will captain the team.
Farrell said: “Joey will be a leader within himself anyway. And so will Jack Carty.
“We are always trying to grow as a leadership group anyway in terms of taking responsibility and growing into the task.
“Every one of the players becomes a leader in their own right, so we are expecting everyone to step up to the plate.”