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.

The Racing Metro ten was having none of that.

“Joe had a word with me (on Friday), that he couldn’t really believe it,” said Sexton. “I had been out of the game for 12 weeks. One guy says I shouldn’t play because Bastareaud is playing? Like, well then I can never play because next week I’m going to have to play Fritz Lee.

“The week after I’ll have to play against Luther Burrell and Vunipola. It’s absolute stupidity to say that I shouldn’t play because Bastareaud was playing. Joe Schmidt gets told by the doctors who is fit and who is not and I don’t know why he got brought into it by this fella who seems to have an opinion on everything.”

It’s a sound argument and one the IRFU or Schmidt himself might wish they had used at the start of the week.

The broader issue isn’t going away, of course.

Rugby is having to take a long, hard look at itself and address serious questions concerning concussion and a wider injury profile borne of the crash-bang-wallop culture that was writ large over Sexton’s face on Saturday night. The Dubliner’s eye was a rather ugly version of the French tricolour after the second-half clash of heads with Bastareaud what with the six stitches and red gash above the eye and a bloody great blue bump below it that almost hid the pupil from view. He missed ten minutes because of it and the obligatory Head Injury Assessment, but the time-out worked in his favour given the three months he’d spent kicking his heels on the sidelines in that it allowed him to push on through to the final whistle.

“The doctors did a great job and I was fine,” he confirmed. “Head-wise I felt great. I was happy. I was almost pleased to get a bang like that so it proves to myself there is no issue going forward. It’s just great to put it to bed.”

He knew what to expect.

French coach Philippe Saint-Andre and flanker Bernard Le Roux had spoken last week about the traffic that would be directed down his channel, but Ireland countered with little things like having Tommy Bowe stationed inside him off defensive lineouts. The were a few issues he had were elsewhere. The odd miscommunication with Simon Zebo and that butchered try opportunity after 57 minutes when Ireland had worked an overlap in the French 22 and Sexton threw the ball into Jared Payne’s face.

It wasn’t a moment that defined his game. If one contribution stood out it was the sumptuous kick to the corner in behind wing Teddy Thomas after 21 minutes that just screamed world-class and spoke volumes of his worth to his country. His employers in Paris will have enjoyed watching him play, too. Sexton’s input with Racing Metro has been severely curtailed due to injuries and he will likely be parachuted straight back in to the team next week against Clermont. He’s actually banking on that.

“Well I need game time, don’t I? I’ve been away for 12 weeks and I did feel a bit rusty at times (Saturday night), so I think I’ll be better with another 50 or 60 minutes, I’ll be better the week after for that.

“Then we play England on Sunday (week). There’s a short turnaround for Racing’s next game against Grenoble, so that will be one that maybe we’ll have to manage in terms of if I play three games on the bounce. At the moment I’m mad keen to get back and get some more game time under my belt.”