IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell says captain Johnny Sexton is set to be available for the Six Nations clash with Italy on 27 February.

Sexton missed last weekend’s round two defeat to France in Paris through injury, but is in line to recover in time for the meeting with the Azzurri in Dublin. 

In Sexton’s absence, Joey Carbery stepped in at 10 against France to win his first Six Nations start, but Farrell was reluctant to give too much away when asked if he intends to give the Munster out-half more meaningful gametime later in the championship.

“All good. He (Sexton) is going through his protocols, he joined in training yesterday,” Farrell said.

“He is going through the end stages of rehab and we expect him to be fully fit next week.

We will leave that (selection) to see how things unfold. But the experience was great for him (Carbery). The feedback from that experience has been great for him. Today we trained against the U20s and he put a few of those bits that we talked about onto the field today. It stands him in good stead doesn’t it, to push on with his career.”

While Sexton is working his way back to full fitness, there was disappointing news for hooker Rónan Kelleher, who will miss the rest of the championship due to a shoulder injury suffered in the defeat to France.

Kelleher, 24, has quickly established himself as a key player in Farrell’s squad. The hooker made his international debut during the 2020 Six Nations and won his first Test starts later that year. He started all three games during the November Test window earlier this season and continued as the starting hooker for the opening Six Nations fixtures against Wales and France.

“It’s disappointing for Rónan and for us,” Farrell said.

He has kicked off his international career with a bang. The more experience he keeps getting at this level, the better he’s going to become. How Rónan deals with that injury as a young professional is going to help him down the track as well.

“Obviously him being out of the Six Nations will give other lads an opportunity to step forward.”

There was some concern surrounding the depth at hooker when Rory Best retired following the 2019 World Cup, but Farrell now sees the position as an area of strength in his squad.

Leinster’s Dan Sheehan made a positive impact off the bench when replacing Kelleher after just 25 minutes in Paris and Connacht’s Dave Heffernan is pushing to build on his six Test caps, while the squad’s senior hooker, Ulster’s Rob Herring, is also hoping to have a say as he returns from injury.

With Kelleher out, Sheehan, 23, will now be frontrunner for the number two shirt despite having just four caps to his name.

Dan Sheehan impressed off the bench against France. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

“There is obviously some inexperience (at hooker), but there is some talent that we are trying to give experience to. Rónan is obviously part of that and Dan is doing really well. It was a fantastic occasion for him going to Paris and playing so long there.

“There’s competition for places and that’s exactly what we want.”

The Ireland squad were afforded a couple of days off after Paris before regrouping on Thursday for a mini-camp, which started with a review of the France game and took in a run-out against Richie Murphy’s Ireland U20s this morning.

And Farrell stressed that it is important his squad take the positives from defeat at a packed Stade de France, an occasion which represented a new experience for many of his players.

It has to be (a learning experience), otherwise it stands for nothing. We’ve had a good hit out against the U20s this morning and some of those learnings have been put into practice. I think the learning for us is that we make sure we put our game out there on the pitch under trying circumstances.

“Certainly in the first-half, I thought we could have been more accurate, more disciplined with how we play our the game – inaccuracies which led to indiscipline etc.”

The Ireland boss also dismissed the suggestion his team might need to work on their discipline, his team conceding 10 penalties to France’s seven last weekend.

“We have certainly not got an issue with discipline at all. In fact, we are an unbelievably disciplined side. Quite a few of the penalties that were given against us weren’t just through ill-discipline. It was through inaccuracies on our part, as far as our understanding about how to do our jobs properly – ie the breakdown etc.

“It’s something that we have been really strong in, certainly in the last five or six games. Discipline isn’t just about people being offside or doing things illegally. You tend to fall on the wrong side of it, if you are inaccurate in things.”

Gavan Casey is joined by Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella to discuss the prospect of South Africa replacing Italy in the Six Nations and reflect on Ireland’s performance in Paris, before looking ahead to the URC action this weekend.

The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud