Johnny Sexton’s place in the Ireland side might be under pressure this weekend, if Ireland is to succeed at the Six Nations – according to Liam Toland.
Toland believes that Joey Carbery needs game time to ensure that the Leinster fly-half is not caught cold if called upon during the Six Nations.
"At some point in time, Joe Schmidt's going to have to break the emergency glass" @LiamToland7 discusses whether it's time for Schmidt to give Joey Carbery as much game-time as he can - including this weekend's #IREvITA @VodafoneIreland #TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/NcqvoGrKXR
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 7, 2018
“At some point, Joe Schmidt is going to have to break the emergency glass and the great Johnny Sexton may have to come off after ten minutes into an international. That could be our last game in Twickenham; that could be with the Grand Slam riding on it.”
Of the tournament’s five games, Toland believes that this weekend at the Aviva is the best option for Joe Schmidt to blood Carbery: “I think that the ideal opportunity to get him on the pitch is this weekend against Italy.”
“You would have concerns around the level of importance Ireland had on our well over 90% kicking success rate – is Joey Carbery battle-hardened enough for that role as well?”
