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12th August 2019
02:11pm BST
(PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption]
"With Carbery struggling," former Ireland winger Andrew Trimble began, "and maybe not going to get that much game-time between now and the World Cup, assuming he gets back in time, should we play Johnny Sexton less? Because Sexton is even more important to us now."
On the idea of leaving Sexton on the bench or out of the games completely, Flannery declared:Asked by Trimble if Sexton starting one of the next three games would be enough, Flannery disagreed. "I think he's got to play more regularly. He'd definitely want two starts." Trimble feels Jack Carty would be the back-up to Sexton if Carbery's injury is as bad as feared and that the Connacht man would, therefore, need a start against either England or Wales. "Hopefully Joey is fit to play again before the World Cup," said Flannery, "but, in the meantime, Sexton has to start and Carty can come off the bench.""No, that’s… the wrap him in cotton wool stuff is bullshit.
"It doesn’t work. It doesn’t… you can definitely play smart. You need to get… Johnny Sexton is the best player in the world, so you need to get game-time into him to get him up to speed.
"You can’t just expect to not give him any game-time and expect him to be firing on all cylinders going into the Scottish game. So they’re going to have to play him. They might just be smart about how much they use him, but he has to play. And hopefully Joey is back and can take some of the pressure off him, because Joey is clearly the second choice."


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