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Rugby

'I would be a little bit worried even if he gets the all-clear'

As a result of four concussions in the past year, Ireland fly half Jonny Sexton will be forced to...



'I would be a little bit w...
Rugby

'I would be a little bit worried even if he gets the all-clear'

As a result of four concussions in the past year, Ireland fly half Jonny Sexton will be forced to miss the opening skirmishes of the Six Nations campaign.

We were joined by Bernard Jackman and Eddie O'Sullivan to talk about that injury and the weekend matches.

Grenoble coach Bernard gave a bit of an insight into the headaches Sexton is suffering from. 

"Unfortunately you can get what Jonny has with the late onset of headaches. They can go away but they come back with an increase in your heart rate so what I did when I had trouble with it was you go in in the morning and you'd be put on a bike and you'd try and get your heart rate up on the treadmill," explained Bernard, who is happy with the way the concussion has been dealt with in France.

Biarritz coach Eddie also believes there is much more awareness of the issue now as well as stricter protocols in place.  

"When you see Jonathan Sexton at the moment, I know the target [to return to action] is 12 weeks, but that's just a notional date and if he's not completely symptom free after 12 weeks, he won't be allowed back - which is the right thing to do - but the thing that would worry me with concussions is you just don't know. People respond differently to concussion," he said. 

"I would be a little bit worried that even if he gets the all-clear, he's only one tackle away from being in trouble again."

Eddie felt Connacht would have deserved a bonus point in their Friday night defeat to Leinster in what he felt was a nip and tuck game, while he feels Matt O'Connor's team could still be dangerous in the Champions Cup should they click.

Bernard and Eddie also analysed where the sport is at now and the trends that have become a part of modern rugby during 2014.

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