Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony not ruled out

As medical updates go there was much positivity for Ireland ahead of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations encounter with Italy in Rome. Yet whether the mental bruises reported by team manager Paul Dean yesterday came from the loss to Scotland or the review that followed it was not clarified.

The chief concerns remain the calf issue that kept fly-half Johnny Sexton out of Saturday’s 27-22 defeat at Murrayfield and the hamstring strain that led to flanker Peter O’Mahony’s omission. Yet Ireland have not ruled either player out from facing the Italians at Stadio Olimpico.

“A lot of the guys were bruised mentally and physically after the weekend,” Dean said.