Ireland’s coach, Joe Schmidt, gave a positive update on Johnny Sexton’s fitness when naming his squad for the opening two rounds of the Six Nations on Wednesday. Sexton, the reigning World Player of the Year, has been troubled by a knee tendon issue and will miss Leinster’s final European Champions Cup pool match at Wasps on Sunday.
“Johnny Sexton is making good progress, while Joey Carbery and Jack Carty have both performed consistently well so far this season,” Schmidt said after naming a 38-man squad.
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“Ross Byrne is unlucky in an incredibly tight call. He is still definitely in our thinking and will continue to press for inclusion through the Six Nations and beyond, while Billy Burns has also fitted in really well for Ulster this season.”
Scrum-half Luke McGrath is likely to miss the entire competition after damaging knee ligaments, but Conor Murray is back after a neck injury.
“It’s been great to watch the provincial teams doing so well in recent weeks,” Schmidt said. “There have been a number of tight calls across almost every position.”
Ireland start their Six Nations campaign at home to England on 2 February before meeting Scotland at Murrayfield seven days later.
Scotland start their campaign at home to Italy and Gregor Townsend has named seven uncapped players in his 39-man squad as he seeks to improve on last year’s third place in the tournament.
“In the past 18 months we’ve played 18 Test matches and have introduced 18 new players to Test-level rugby. Once again, our squad features players aiming to take that step, which is a testimony to their performances this season and the growing strength in depth of Scottish rugby.
“We are very proud of what a number of our players have achieved since the autumn Tests, particularly with Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors both aiming to make the last eight of the Champions Cup for the first time and both sitting in strong positions in their respective Pro 14 conferences.”
Townsend added: “We’ve also seen some excellent performances from players representing clubs in France and England, which is a credit to their commitment and work ethic. It is a privilege for our players to be involved in the Guinness Six Nations, which is such a prestigious tournament and will be highly competitive once again.
“We look forward to taking on the challenge of Italy and working hard as a squad over the next two weeks to deliver a winning performance.”