The Ireland captain has been unavailable due to a ban.
BRIAN O’DRISCOLL says he is confident that Ireland captain Johnny Sexton will make a seamless return to the team when the Rugby World Cup gets underway, but cautions that there will be “added nervousness” following his lengthy absence.
O’Driscoll says that the length of Sexton’s layoff, combined with his age, will certainly be a factor in his return. But the former Ireland skipper also has great faith in his old teammate’s ability to withstand the tests that await him in France.“One thing he has shown throughout his career is an ability to be able to have a long enough stay away from the game and hit the ground running at Six Nations or international level.
“I imagine he’ll start the first game, maybe sit on the bench against Tonga and come on for 20 minutes if needs be and then we’ve got to start him in the biggest games in the pool, against South Africa and against Scotland. It’s a really big ask of Johnny but he’s put himself in the mix to finally try and achieve something with Ireland that no team has done before, and if anyone is capable of doing it at his age, knowing his professionalism, well it is Sexton.
There has been some debate about whether or not Ireland should commit their best team to each game in the World Cup, or withhold our strongest selection for the clashes with Romania and Tonga, and possibly South Africa.
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