Head-wise I felt great, says Jonathan Sexton

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.

Chaperoned into the mixed zone by the Irish team’s media manager though he was, Sexton gave further evidence that he doesn’t need anyone to hold his hand, on or off the pitch, as he addressed the question of his recent concussions and return to rugby.

The previous week had been dominated by Joe Schmidt’s decision to pick him after 12 weeks out, former French player, journalist and author Laurent Benezech describing the decision to name him against a team containing Mathieu Bastareaud as a mistake.