All the head injury assessments have been passed and Johnny Sexton is fit and fully available for selection when Ireland take on Wales in the Six Nations on February 7th.
Joe Schmidt gave the definitive update on Sexton's condition at the launch of the Six Nations in London today following a week of conflicting reports about Sexton's condition. He was taken off after just eight minutes of Leinster's defeat to Wasps last weekend having failed a head injury assessment. At least that's what we were told in the immediate aftermath of the game.
Calls for Sexton's retirement in the wake of another concussion followed. However, an injury update from Leinster on Monday stated that Sexton actually passed the assessment and was taken off as a precaution. Not everyone was buying that and criticism once again followed but the medical advice is that Sexton is good to go and Schmidt has addressed the understandable worries ahead of the opening weekend of the Six Nations.
Johnny trained really well yesterday. He has passed all the protocols. It was this time last year where he had the problem and took a break. Since then he’s had no head injuries so, as far as we and he are concerned, he’s ready to go.
The Ireland coach went on to say that he treats head injuries with the utmost respect but when the medical evidence has gone the way it has, there was only one way to go with things.
They identified Johnny needed a rest and that’s to our advantage really. All we can do is go on the best medical decision we have. When they give him the all clear we have trust in him. They’re the experts and if people question that it’s a disappointment. No one is going to have the same opinion but you get the best qualified people to make the assessment.
So that's that then. As Leinster and the IRFU stated, there was no concussion, the backseat doctors have no impact and Sexton will wear the Irish no.10 jersey at the Aviva on February 7th.
