Jonathan Sexton might have thought he had put to bed all the doubts and debate about his selection when he walked off the Lansdowne turf two nights ago, but it was only in the hours afterwards that the Irish out-half finally managed to make his case airtight.

The IRFU has fired an angry broadside at allegations that sending Johnny Sexton into RBS 6 Nations action against France after a 12-week concussion lay-off could prove “a big mistake”.

They can never again say I don’t make the big calls, says Larry Ryan.

Joe Schmidt has challenged claims there may be a widespread problem with either legal supplement use or illegal drug-taking among rugby players in Ireland.