‘It was always going to come down to this game,’ says Jonny Sexton as Henderson and Sheehan return to starting line-up for crucial Scotland test
‘It was always going to come down to this game,’ says Sexton as Henderson and Sheehan return to starting line-up for crucial clashHead coach Andy Farrell and captain Johnny Sexton at the Ireland squad press conference at Les Domaine des Vanneaux, Paris in advance of the game against Scotland. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inphoschedule was announced way back in February 2021, Pool B always seemed destined to come down to this Saturday night’s Celtic shoot-out in Paris, and so it has come to pass.
“We still feel there are some parts of our game we need to improve if we want to go further in this competition and that comes down to this weekend.” Ryan did have a slight wrist injury in the fallout from that South African game but the lock trained and “trained the house down, actually trained the best I’ve seen him in train in a good amount of years yesterday,” according to Farrell.“Because he deserves it,” said Farrell. “He’s been excellent, outstanding as a leader all the way through preseason. It’s a new enough role for him being on the bench. It wouldn’t be that many times that he’s started on the bench throughout his career.
Even so, while an impact replacement role is relatively new for Henderson, over the last nine seasons he has started 40 Tests and been a replacement 20 times. But what’s more striking is how unusual this role is for Ryan. Conan, 31, plays his first World Cup match since appearing off the bench in the 27-3 pool win against the Scots four years ago in Yokohama, eight weeks after sustaining a torn foot ligament in the opening warm-up win over Scotland.
“It’s not always a replacement like for like and Cian is obviously one of those players who’s at the forefront of our minds,” admitted Farrell.
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