Sexton continues to ramp up preparations for France showdown

It was a case of ‘as you were’ at Ireland’s base camp in Kildare today with little in the way of fresh news as Jonathan Sexton continues to ramp up his preparations for the weekend’s Six Nations encounter against France in Dublin.

The Racing Metro out-half has now completed two full contact sessions in as many days and the team management has claimed that the player, returning from a 12-week concussion stand down, has done so without any issues.

“He's fine,” said skills and kicking coach Richie Murphy. He took a full part in training and did contact work today and is raring to go for the weekend.