Fear not, Ronan O’Gara has an update!
Ireland supporters from all four provinces were left biting their nails at the weekend when Johnny Sexton was promptly forced back to the treatment room during Leinster’s Champions Cup clash against Castres in Stade Pierre Antoine.
Sexton was removed from the fray after just 22 minutes, during which he kicked a conversion and a penalty, when he complained of a tightness in his calf.
The all-too-familiar sight of Ireland’s first-choice out-half limping out of action brought many fans to panic stations as Joe Schmidt has less than a fortnight to finish his preparations for the Six Nations opener against Scotland in Murrayfield, which will take place on February 4.
Sexton’s absence at any stage of this year’s competition would come as a devastating blow for Ireland’s chances but the former incumbent of the green number 10 jersey is not too concerned.
Fresh from Racing 92’s defeat to Munster at O’Gara’s former haunt, the legendary out-half revealed that he’d spoken to Sexton and was left with no reason to believe that he would not be fit in time for the Scotland clash.
“Everyone gets targeted,” O’Gara insisted. “I spoke to him last night and he’s fine.
“He had a bruise and he got another knock on it. Thankfully I don’t think it’s a tear. If you get a knock on the calf it’s completely different than a stretch in the calf.
“He seems confident and I have every reason to believe he will be fine.”
Speaking of Racing’s defeat to Munster, the second in as many weeks, O’Gara could not hide his regret at the fact that the reigning Top 14 champions did not field All Blacks legend Dan Carter for the weekend’s match.
“I’d have just loved if Dan was playing, from a selfish point of view,” the Racing defence coach said.
“There was some serious kick space in the back field which Munster will have to address urgently because if it was executed you would kill them there. The other side of me would have hoped if we were going on both fronts the world’s best out-half could have made a different game of it.”
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