Joe Schmidt may seek extra rest for Johnny Sexton

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is set to discuss the possibility of extra rest for Johnny Sexton as the fly-half recovers from a hamstring injury.

Sexton missed Saturday’s victory over Australia having failed to finish the first half of the previous week’s Guinness Series Test with New Zealand. After beating the Wallabies, Schmidt said both Sexton and centre Robbie Henshaw (concussion), his Leinster team-mate, would not be sidelined for too long following their injuries suffered against the All Blacks but implied that the British & Irish Lions playmaker might benefit from some additional time to become “more robust”.

“I’d like to think they’re relatively short-term. Robbie was pretty sore, he was pretty knocked about and that’s disappointing,” Schmidt said.