Sexton likely to be fit for France clash
Monday, 8 February 2010
Jonathan Sexton and Donncha O'Callaghan are in line to be available for the pivotal RBS 6 Nations clash with France on Saturday but doubts remain about Stephen Ferris.
Sexton was not considered for Saturday's 29-11 victory over Italy early last week after picking up a dead leg but the prognosis on the Leinster out-half is good.
However, with Ronan O'Gara giving a masterclass in out-half play against the Italians, Sexton could be hard pressed to regain the starting spot he took for the 15-10 win against South Africa in November.
Speaking before training today, Ireland team manager Paul McNaughton told RTÉ Sport's Michael Corcoran: 'Jonny Sexton has recovered very well and the latest word is that we will have him fully training today and we are at this stage quite optimistic that he is available for selection in Paris.'
The Ireland management team reviewed the injury situation on Sunday night and McNaughton added that most of the players who left the field against Italy - including Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell and Tomás O'Leary - were due to take part in today's session.
But Ulster and Ireland winger Andrew Trimble has a strained hamstring and is a concern ahead of Ireland's departure for France on Thursday.
McNaughton said: 'We will know more about that on Tuesday but we still think he could make it onto the availability list.'
Second row O'Callaghan, who was ruled out of the Ireland team to play Italy after being named in the starting XV, could be available but with Leo Cullen impressing in his place against the Azzuri a return to the starting line-up is not guaranteed.
Ferris injured his knee playing for Ulster in their final Heineken Cup match over two weeks ago and his ability to train has been limited since.
Commenting on the injury situaton, McNaughton said: 'The guys we are concerned about are Stephen Ferris and Donncha (O'Callaghan) and again we will know more over the next couple of days on that and we're not ruling them out yet.
Asked if O'Callaghan had a better chance of getting into the selection mix, McNaughton said: 'Donncha fully trained in the last couple of days and he probably is ahead of Stephen but these things change and there can be reactions.
He added: 'We'll know more about Stephen in the next couple of days because Stephen hasn't done a lot (of training) over the last 10 days.'
On Sunday, eleven players, including Ferris and O'Callaghan, were added to the Ireland squad that faced Italy.
The team for the match against France will be selected tomorrow afternoon.
Additional Players:
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers)
Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
