Change in fortune as Ireland begin with clean bill of health

Ireland’s last Six Nations campaign may have ended in tatters with a catastrophic casualty list but their latest tilt at the championship will begin with a clean bill of health ahead of Sunday’s opener against Scotland.

Joe Schmidt named 34 players in his pared-down squad earlier this week and not one of those troops is rated doubtful — so far — for the 3pm kick-off at the Aviva Stadium.

That means a thumbs up for out-half Jonathan Sexton who reported back for duty this week with stitches in his head after returning briefly to France where he played a starring part in Racing Metro’s defeat of Toulouse.