RUGBY:NOT FOR the first time this season, Jonathan Sexton was troubled by a recurring hamstring problem in the warm-up to last Saturday's first Test at Eden Park, although not enough to affect his participation or his kicking, with his replacement apparently an entirely tactical decision.
Confirming that Sexton trained yesterday afternoon, Ireland manager Mick Kearney said: “He did feel a bit of tightness in it (during warm-up) but it was fine and he wouldn’t have come off as a precaution – that would have been a tactical substitution.”
Nor did it affect his kicking game.
“I don’t think so. He certainly didn’t complain about it before or afterwards. He did feel a bit of tightness in it but there was never a threat. Absolutely not.”
Aside from any injury-related changes, the expectation is Donncha O’Callaghan and Andrew Trimble will also be recalled to the team for the second Test.
Gavin Duffy arrived ahead of the squad today, following their journey south tomorrow, as cover for Rob Kearney at fullback instead of Keith Earls.
Dave Kearney would have been under consideration save for minor surgery.
“Dave certainly would have been in the mix but he underwent an operation a couple of weeks ago. I think in the groin/hip area.
“Pretty minor but obviously it would have ruled him out of the tour. It was micro surgery rather than a full operation.”
Tony Buckley is on standby should there be any further damage to the props, with the biggest concern now being Cian Healy.
His chances of playing in the second Test are rated “at around 50-50 or so” after he sustained a “significant soft tissue injury” to his shoulder.
Against that, an MRI scan revealed no damage to Declan Fitzpatrick’s hamstring, while Mike Ross looks set to return.
“Just speaking to (team doctor) Éanna Falvey this morning, Éanna would be very hopeful that his rehab is right on schedule,” said Kearney.
“He ran this morning and he ran very well, without any ill-effects whatsoever. So we’d be very hopeful there.”
The All Blacks, already in Christchurch, confirmed that Kieran Read will be fit to play despite a blow to his head and they are still holding out hope that Victor Vito might recover from his medial knee ligament injury.
Unsurprisingly, and true to his post-match vow that they have a duty to the Christchurch public to put on a big performance, coach Steve Hansen confirmed that he will stick with largely the same side before dipping further into his 30-man squad and playing some of those who will be straining at the leash for the third Test in Hamilton on Saturday week.
IRELAND STAY EIGHTH IN RANKINGS
IRELAND REMAIN eighth in the IRB World Rankings after the weekend’s matches; the positions remain largely unchanged.
Victories for New Zealand, Australia and South Africa on Saturday mean those three sides retain the top three places in the standings, while all their respective opponents – Ireland , Wales (fifth) and England (fourth) – stay as they were.
Scotland’s 9-6 win over the Aussies earlier in the week translates as a one-place move up the table to 11th.
1 New Zealand 91.43
2 Australia 86.42
3 South Africa 84.97
4 England 82.99
5 Wales 82.89
6 France 81.91
7 Argentina 80.36
8 IRELAND 79.85
