Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has said "it doesn't ring true" to suggest Johnny Sexton has suffered recurrent concussion worries and is confident the outhalf will have no further problems ahead of the Six Nations kick-off on Sunday week.
Sexton was forced off early in the Leinster's Champions Cup defeat to Wasps last Saturday after clashing heads with Brendan Macken and was assessed for concussion.
It was believed initially that he had failed a head injury assessment, though this was later contradicted by the IRFU, who said the No 10 passed the HIA examination from the Leinster medical staff but was left off as a precaution.
Speaking about the confusion over Sexton's condition, Schmidt said: “It was made pretty clear by Leinster that he didn't fail the HIA, that he has successfully passed all three HIA tests which effectively means that he is fit to play.
"He trained fully yesterday and had a real spring in his step. We don't foresee any problems with Johnny.
"Again, [to say he's suffered with concussion] time and time again, it doesn't really ring true for me. He had a period where he did have them. It is 12 months since he had that long rest and it was on some of the best advice we could possibly get, certainly in Europe.
"He trained fully yesterday and had a real spring in his step. We don't foresee any problems with Johnny."
"They are not concerned, so as long as we are operating on what we believe is the best medical advice and Johnny feels good within himself, we are reasonably well prepared to treat him like any other player.”
Praising Leinster for withdrawing Sexton as a precaution in the weekend's heavy defeat at Wasps, Schmidt said Ireland take head injuries extremely seriously.
"I'm always concerned," said Schmidt, when asked about concussion and its symptoms.
"We treat head injuries with the respect they need and that's why he didn't go back onto the pitch on the weekend, and I certainly respect that decision.
"It wasn't a game that was going to be significant in qualification and therefore they identified that some important games were coming up for Johnny.
"That's fallen to our advantage so he should be fully fit to go."
The Irish head coach is prepared to stick with the group selected for the opening two weeks of the competition but said there are opportunities for other players to get a chance.
He added: "Mike Ross, Cian Healy, Chris Henry and a few others that haven't had a lot of game time recently, like Fergus McFadden, would still be in our mix.
"We have a reasonably short-term focus so we have selected the guys that we have got. They are all fully fit apart from Marty Moore, who was replaced by Finlay Bealham.
"Some of them will go back to their provinces this weekend to get a little bit more game time. There are a number of guys who haven't really had a lot of game time in recent week so we'll make those decisions this evening when I get back and some of those guys will catch up with their provinces.
"The first two weeks we will work away with this group and then it is opened ended after that. What we have found in the past is the initial group has tended to get us off to a reasonable start and then if guys perform well they know there is an opportunity for them to hold on to the jersey."
Ireland would make history with a third consecutive Six Nations title this year, but Schmidt believes the arrival of Eddie Jones as England boss and Guy Noves leading France will crank up the quality of the competition.
"I think he is universally respected," said Schmidt of Noves.
"He's coached in Toulouse for so long and so successfully that his experience will inevitably bring out a little bit of excitement amongst the players.
"Guy will bring a voice of calm and a voice of reason.
"His experience will give the players a bit of confidence, and maybe the French public a bit of confidence, that with the success he's had, that the future for France will be successful as well.
"And for Eddie the massive advantage is that he's got a lot more international experience than I had when I took over Ireland.
"Eddie has had some really good success with Australia and that Japan win over South Africa that none of us will ever forget, but they also won two other games that people will maybe forget.
"With his experience and previous international success, he knows exactly what it takes to get in front on big days in big international Test matches.
"With him and Guy joining the crew it's going to be a bit tougher again."
