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Shock Ireland selection as skipper Johnny Sexton is ruled out

(Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Ireland boss Andy Farrell has resisted the temptation to recall Lions duo Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw to his starting line-up for this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations round two match away to France in Paris. However, there was one major selection surprise as skipper Johnny Sexton was ruled out after it emerged he had picked up a hamstring injury in training on Wednesday. 

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The unexpected absence of Sexton will see James Ryan skipper the Ireland team and Joey Carbery wear the No10 Six Nations jersey at the Stade de France, with Jack Carty providing cover from a bench that also features Henderson and Henshaw who take over in the replacements from Ryan Baird and James Hume.    

Saturday will be a rare Test start for Carbery, the 26-year-old who has started just nine times in his previous 28 appearances. He hasn’t before started in the Six Nations but he was the starting Ireland No10 in the series-ending November win over Argentina when Sexton was previously injured, so the starting Test level role isn’t something that he hasn’t done in quite a while.

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    Sexton getting injured and not being able to play was a major shock when announced as all the pre-team announcement indications were that he would lead the team in Paris. He had spoken at length with media on Tuesday and used that briefing to brush aside negative comments about him from France in the expectation that his performance at Stade de France would do the talking.

    Second row Henderson had been managing an ankle injury in the run-up last weekend’s championship opener against Wales while midfielder Henshaw had been affected by an adductor niggle that restricted his training.

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    Both were back in harness on the training ground in Dublin this week but their efforts were only enough for them to make the bench as Farrell has stuck by 14 of the XV that took Wales to the cleaners on a 29-7 scoreline. 

    IRELAND (vs France, Saturday)
    15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps
    14. Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 28 caps
    13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 38 caps
    12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 34 caps
    11. Mack Hansen (Connacht) 1 cap
    10. Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 28 caps
    9. Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 13 caps
    1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps
    2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 17 caps
    3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 53 caps
    4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 26 caps
    5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps CAPTAIN
    6. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 13 caps
    7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 36 caps
    8. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 23 caps

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    Replacements:
    16. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 3 caps
    17. Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 113 caps
    18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 19 caps
    19. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 65 caps
    20. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 80 caps
    21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 93 caps
    22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 10 caps
    23. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 53 caps

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    Comments

    1 Comment
    R
    Ralph 1265 days ago

    If he's injured why is it a shock?

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    Comments on RugbyPass

    J
    JW 33 minutes ago
    Andy Goode: Aussie comments didn't cover them in glory

    Yes I was happy with the refs ruling of arrival (and that the tackled player wasn’t obligated to release the ball immediately) but if you see the wide angle you can note how Morgan dives to get there in time.


    I don’t mind your (or the refs) view, but what Morgan said is accurate. Both Mils and Beaver agreed on the breakdown, and you will also get the same view from Aotearoa Rugby Pod guys for a pretty unanimous NZ view.

    Sometimes when both players are low its a rugby collision and this is one of those times.

    Not recently. In the SR finals and AB v Arg series weve seen players clearly bent 90 at the waist still be penalised, only when the attacker does something the ref sees immediate mitigation and rules a rugby incident. Tizzano didn’t offer that he was always in the position Morgan aimed to collect him in.


    Happy to not throw the rule book at these situations but the precent is that they are in these situations.

    many tries out wide the player is allowed to be tackled while diving

    They are diving for the line, not to avoid being tackled.

    “In principle, in a try scoring situation, if the action is deemed to be a dive forward for a try, then it should be permitted. If a player is deemed to have left the ground to avoid a tackle; or to jump, or hurdle a potential tackler, then this is dangerous play and should be sanctioned accordingly.”

    You can read Nicks article for an updated discourse on this though.

    30 Go to comments
    J
    JW 1 hour ago
    New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

    But he was wrong, he had to take back what he said. But maybe this only happened because he came out and was honest with his initial plans?


    He’s simply in a position where he should be far more professional.


    I don’t really follow much media, especially SM, but again, I’ve not seen anyone complaining. Plenty of ridicule and pointing out things like it being disrespectful to the game, but as far as the English language goes, that’s not complaining. Nick Bishop for instance hasn’t been complaining, he’s simply saying Galthie made a bad decision for France’s prospects (which when the common reply is ‘thats how it is’).


    Complaining would be views expressing that the FFR should have put the tour back a week so that all T14 finalists could attend. Complaining would be saying they’ve been robbed of seeing the worlds best stars. Complaining would be saying players can simply take extra weeks off from T14. I’ve only seen advice and suggestions that these are things France need to look-at-for-the-future.


    Basically I tried to communicate with French fans because they don’t understand what’s being communicated. ALL reactions I have seen shared here by French supports have all seemed way over the top compared what I’ve seen expressed about this tour.

    the players are expected to play in too many matches, for too many minutes, and need more rest and recovery time.

    This is the message I have been sharing. So something needs to happen, whether thats France pull out of more Internationals or rest players from more domestic games, who knows, but I also don’t think what they have now is working. It’s obviously much better than 3-4 years ago, but they appear to want to work even harder at it like you say. Personally I’ve only seen LNR be reasonable, I hear much less of their other internationals being denied/influenced not to play, so I imagine that they will give even further (as I can’t really see France pulling out the other international windows as well).

    147 Go to comments
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