Six Nations 2016: Johnny Sexton hits back at Eddie Jones over concussion claims

Fight talk: Johnny Sexton
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Chris Jones26 February 2016

Johnny Sexton accused Eddie Jones of “jumping on the bandwagon” after the England coach questioned whether he should be playing in tomorrow’s clash at Twickenham.

Many within the game fear that the Ireland outside-half is an accident waiting to happen. He sat out 12 weeks in 2014 after four concussions and, having been taken off with a neck problem against Wales in the opening round of Six Nations matches, suffered a whiplash injury against France two weeks ago.

Jones left the player and Ireland manager Joe Schmidt fuming when he claimed Sexton’s family must be concerned about the situation. “Maybe he [Jones] is just trying to jump on the bandwagon about head injuries,” said Sexton.

“I have been branded. It can be pretty frustrating when people are diagnosing you that have absolutely no idea what is going on behind the scenes, frustrating when you are being labelled with being concussed when you’re not.

“If I said over and over again that a member of the media had dementia, I would be sued. It is not ideal.”

Schmidt leapt to the player’s defence and said: “If we’re distracted by that, then that’s something we’re wasting energy and time on. People are well within their rights to make whatever observation they want from outside the environment but we know how things are inside it.

“We know how eager, fit and able the players are and Johnny’s a good example of someone who’s very eager this weekend and I think you’ll see that tomorrow.”

Jones, who has a history of winding up the opposition during his time as a Test coach, said: “I would just be worried about his welfare if Sexton has had whiplash injuries. You don’t like to see that with any player and if you are saying a guy has had whiplash, then he has had severe trauma and you have to worry about the welfare of the player.”

Jones said he expects Ireland to target his No10, George Ford, adding: “We play a physically violent game without much protection. Sexton is not a weak defender and is a big boy — twice the size of George Ford — and I am sure he can look after himself.

“He is hardly a shrinking violet. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

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