Joe Schmidt upgrades his expectations for Ireland

Joe Schmidt’s confidence that out-half Johnny Sexton will be fit for next month’s RBS 6 Nations Championship coincides with an upgrade to his expectations about Ireland’s prospects in this season’s Championship.

With a positive medical report on Sexton, who went off with a tight calf in Leinster’s Champions Cup draw with Castres in France last Friday night but looks set to face Scotland on February 4, Ireland’s hopes in 2017 shine brighter than the black eye England coach Eddie Jones sported at yesterday’s media launch in southwest London.

Yet while the ebullient Australian’s prize followed a fall, getting out of his shower yesterday morning, Irish optimism for silverware has been on an upward curve since last year’s victories over South Africa in Cape Town, the All Blacks in Chicago and Australia at the Aviva Stadium.