Despite the encouraging news that he is set to be available for the start of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster is adamant Jonathan Sexton won’t be rushed back ahead of time from a provincial perspective.
After he suffered a facial injury in a collision with Jarrad Butler during the New Year’s Day clash against Connacht at the RDS, there was considerable doubt raised over Sexton’s participation in the Championship opener away to Wales on February 4th. The veteran outhalf has since undergone a procedure on his cheekbone and while he has been ruled out of this Saturday’s Champions Cup encounter with Gloucester, a press release issued by Leinster revealed he is expected to regain fitness in advance of the spring international window.
There is also the slight prospect of Sexton featuring in Leinster’s January 21st showdown with Racing 92 at the Aviva Stadium and the nature of his injury means he could potentially return to non-contact training sooner rather than later. Yet Lancaster — who will take over as Racing head coach at the beginning of next season — acknowledged a cautious approach is the best course of action for the 37-year-old.
‘Clash of heads’
“You’ve got to allow the bone to heal a bit. You can’t do contact but equally, there’s always a risk and you don’t want to put him under that risk. Certainly this week,” said Lancaster yesterday.
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“Once the bone heals he should be able to get involved in training on a non-contact basis, but I don’t think it’s sensible to risk someone. You can put them in an orange bib, but all it takes is an accidental clash of heads and suddenly you’ve set him back. There’s no point doing that this week.”
Coming towards the end of his glittering career in the professional game, Sexton’s game time at Leinster has been significantly limited during the current campaign. The aforementioned Connacht game was just the Dubliner’s second appearance — and his first start — since injuring his calf in the warm-up for Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series triumph over Australia last November.
Although this could be a source of immense frustration for a ferocious competitor like Sexton, Lancaster insists his mood around the Leinster camp hasn’t been affected by his recent spells on the sideline.
“I think he was just ready to get going and this was just a couple of weeks’ setback. It’s not a disaster obviously. Johnny, he gets his eye in very quickly from training. He’s a bit frustrated, but he’s got over it now. He’ll be away training and trying to get himself in as good a physical shape as he can without doing the contact. The rest of the stuff he’ll pick up in Ireland camp, I’m sure.”
Tadhg Furlong update
Tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong is in a similar position to Sexton, having picked up a calf injury in training last week. This is unrelated to the ankle issue that kept him out of action on either side of the festive period and he is also expected to be available for the start of the Six Nations.
Robbie Henshaw is also working his way back from wrist surgery, though Lancaster admitted it is less clear whether the centre will be available to his former coaching partner Andy Farrell for next month’s trip to Cardiff.
“Similar timeframe [to Sexton and Furlong], probably not our time frame in terms of the next week for sure. He’s getting closer and closer. I don’t think he’s at the same position as Tadhg and Johnny is, to be honest,” Lancaster added.
