Schmidt: Players being at rape trial won’t affect preparations

Irish rugby boss Joe Schmidt has said the presence of captain Rory Best and fellow international Ian Henderson at the rape trial of their team-mates Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding will not affect preparations for tomorrow’s Six Nations opener against France.

Best and Henderson will start for Ireland against France in Paris tomorrow afternoon, but were on a day off on Wednesday when they attended Belfast Crown Court. The alleged victim took the stand on the same day.

Jackson, from Oakleigh Park in Belfast, and Olding, from Ardenlee St in the city, deny raping the woman at a house in south Belfast in June 2016.