Ireland await Sexton medical as All Blacks loom

Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton has until Friday to prove his fitness to face New Zealand, provided he emerges in reasonable shape from today’s medical assessment on an injured hamstring.

The Irish out-half was forced off at half-time in Saturday’s 32-15 defeat to Australia, his first game for Ireland since suffering a similar injury against England in February, and must be considered a serious doubt for next Sunday’s final Guinness Series Test at the Aviva Stadium against the all-conquering All Blacks.

Head coach Joe Schmidt described the prospect of facing his compatriots as “daunting” in the wake of a demoralising loss to the Wallabies and will be desperate to have his first-choice playmaker on the field, given the fall-off from the rest of the team once he had departed on Saturday.