Paddy Jackson can handle the Scottish onslaught, says Brian O'Driscoll

Brian O’Driscoll was on the scene in Edinburgh four years ago when Paddy Jackson’s Ireland debut veered off script but the retired centre believes the Ulster man’s progress has been such there is no reason for Ireland to panic in Jonathan Sexton’s absence this Saturday.

Sexton’s calf injury and latest enforced absence means Jackson will start a Six Nations for the first time since that 2012/13 season when Declan Kidney thrust him into the spotlight so unexpectedly for what proved to be a traumatic afternoon at Murrayfield.

O’Driscoll played all 80 minutes that day, chaperoning another rookie in Luke Marshall at centre as Ireland went down to a dismal 12-8 loss and, though Jackson endured a sometimes torturous time, the Leinster man has watched him progress in “leaps and bounds” since.