Sexton and O’Mahony face fitness race for European ties

Jonathan Sexton of Leinster leaves the pitch with a bloody nose during the Guinness PRO14 Final on Saturday. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Ruaidhri O'Connor Twitter

March 29 2021 02:30 AM

Both Leinster and Munster could go into European action against French giants Toulon and Toulouse without their captains.

Johnny Sexton was removed for a Head Injury Assessment minutes after coming on as a replacement in Saturday’s 16-6 Guinness PRO14 final win over their local rivals and did not return.

Coach Leo Cullen says he will now go into the graduated return to play protocols and, with a six-day period between the games, it looks unlikely that he’ll be cleared to play.

Peter O’Mahony, meanwhile, suffered what his coach Johann van Graan described as “a deep cut to his leg” when trying to stop Jack Conan’s try in the 49th minute. The South African said the skipper was “struggling” and that the injury “didn’t look good”.

Leinster will provide an injury bulletin today. James Ryan and Caelan Doris missed the final win with head injuries, while Will Connors, Garry Ringrose, Scott Penny and Josh Murphy are all sidelined.

Toulon, meanwhile, are likely to be without Ma’a Nonu who was sent off in their 54-16 defeat to Lyon on Saturday. He’ll go before a disciplinary hearing this week.

“It’s great to have Toulon, someone we haven’t played against in four or five years, I think. They’re coming to the RDS and that will be an absolutely massive challenge,” Conan said.

“They’ve got a huge pack and their ability to muscle up and front up is one of the best in Europe so we’re under no illusions how hard that’s going to be, especially with the short turnaround, so it’s going to be a big test for the club and in the coming days we’ll recover well and get back to the drawing board on Monday morning.”

Toulouse warmed up for their trip to Thomond Park with a 29-16 defeat to Montpellier, but both they and Toulon will have their France contingent back on board this week.

Meanwhile, Munster winger Darren Sweetnam will join La Rochelle for the rest of the season.