Irish captain Johnny Sexton has been ruled out of Ireland's pivotal second round game against France in the 2022 Six Nations on Saturday in the Stade de France (kick-off 5.45pm local/4.45pm Irish) due to a hamstring injury sustained in training on Wednesday.
James Ryan will take over the captaincy, while Joey Carbery comes into the starting line-up, with Jack Carty on the bench where, as expected, Andy Farrell has restored the fit-again Lions Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw to an otherwise unchanged 23-man squad from last Saturday's 29-7 bonus point win over Wales. Ryan Baird and James Hume miss out on the match-day squad.
In particular, the performances of Tadhg Beirne and Bundee Aki last Saturday made it highly unlikely either player would not retain their place in the secondrow and in midfield.
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Furthermore both are more match hardened than the returning Lions. Henderson hasn’t played for eight weeks since sustaining an ankle injury when captaining Ulster to their Heineken Champions Cup win over Northampton at home on December 11th. What’s more, that 47-minute appearance was Henderson’s sole outing since he played in the first 47 minutes of the win over the All Blacks on November 13th.
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Similarly, Henshaw has been restricted to just four games this season. The last of these, against Bath three weeks ago, has been his only outing since early December and he missed some of the Irish squad’s training week in Portugal with an adductor strain.
The return of Henderson and Henshaw means there are five Lions among the vastly experienced Irish bench which boasts 436 caps between them, but the loss of Sexton is ill-timed and unsettling.
True to type though, Farrell was sanguine about the unexpected loss of his captain and talisman 48 hours out from such a huge game, albeit he doesn’t expect Sexton’s “small hamstring strain” to sideline him for more than a week to 10 days, meaning he should be fit for the Italy game at home in a fortnight.
“It is what it is and that’s the sport that we love. There’s always twists and turns, especially within a Six Nations. It’s a long old competition that runs over eight weeks so there will always be something that we have to deal with,” he said.
“Obviously Johnny is an important member of our group being skipper of the side. He is integral to how we push forward with many parts of our environment but at the same time this is about the group. Johnny will travel with us and be a leader as much as he possibly can be. It’s a great development for us as a team going forward as well and we still expect ourselves to be at our best in Paris on Saturday.
Gutted
“We are gutted for Johnny. It means so much to him to captain this side. But at the same time he realises we are not going to miss an opportunity for us to grow as a group and that is exciting within itself,” added Farrell, who accentuated the positive aspect of furthering Carbery’s development for what, remarkably, will be his first Six Nations start at the age of 26.
“It’s not just about Joey Carbery and it’s not just about can he handle a big game in Paris. It’s about us as a group and as a squad and that’s what Johnny does, he makes sure that the whole group is exactly where it should be. As I said, Johnny will travel with us and be a big part of the group but at the same time it’s not just about the number 10 as far as the direction of the team is concerned. It’s about everyone that takes the field.”
It is a massive opportunity for James Ryan as well to captain the side: “These things are great for us. We grow as a group, don’t we? That is all part of the journey. James has captained the side a good few times now - we get to find out more about ourselves.
“There are always going to be injuries, there are always going to be people that you would expect to be chosen that get injuries along the way and we have got to be able to deal with that. From day one, at the start of this Six Nations, that is how we train anyway. So the lads that are coming in are certainly ready,” said Farrell, who said Ireland’s attacking game won’t change.
“No, we play the same game, we keep making good decisions. We play what is in front of us, nothing changes as far as that is concerned.
“Joey will be a leader within himself anyway. And so will Jack Carty. We are always trying to grow as a leadership group anyway in terms of taking responsibility and growing into the task. Every one of the players becomes a leader in their own right, so we are expecting everyone to step up to the plate.
“I’m expecting both sides to up it a notch or two and be at their best. Hopefully we can put in a performance that will give us a chance for what is being built up as a big game and rightly so. That’s exactly where we want to be. We want to be at our best so that’s what we’re concentrating on.”
Although it transpires Sexton felt the strain early in yesterday’s session, Carbery said of the prospect of starting in the Stade de France: “I didn’t really think about it until I was actually told. We do a lot of switching in and out during training so when I was told to stay in I was excited and looking forward to getting some minutes under my belt. To be honest, over the last two or three weeks, in Portugal and the Welsh week I was in and out a lot so I’m feeling very confident.”
The Munster outhalf has been in the squad all season, and having steered the ship home against the All Blacks, he was then man of the match a week later against Argentina starting at outhalf and playing out the game at fullback.
“I’m really excited for the weekend now. I feel like I’m ready to go, both mentally and physically, training has gone really well this week and last week was good as well. Yeah, I’m feeling really ready.”
Meanwhile Fabien Galthié has made two changes to the French starting XV. As expected the 21-year-old Bordeaux centre Yoram Moefana replaces the injured Jonathan Danty while Francois Cros relegates Dylan Cretin to the bench, where the French have recalled Thibaud Flament in reverting to the 6-2 split favoured in their three autumn series.
Cameron Woki remains in the secondrow while there is still no place for Virimi Vakatawa.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen; Joey Carbery, Jamison Gibson Park; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan (Capt); Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan. Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack Carty, Robbie Henshaw.
France: Jaminet; Penaud, Fickou, Moefana, Villière; Ntamack, Dupont (captain); Baille, Marchand, Atonio; Woki, Willemse; Cros, Jelonch, Alldritt. Replacements: Mauvaka, Gros, Bamba, Taofifuena, Flament, Cretin, Lucu, Ramos.
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia).
