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Ireland captain Johnny Sexton has been ruled out of Saturday\u2019s Autumn Nations Cup clash with England following a scan on a hamstring injury.<\/p>\nIreland captain Johnny Sexton has been ruled out of Saturday\u2019s Autumn Nations Cup clash with England following a scan on a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n
Fly-half Sexton limped off in the first half of Friday\u2019s 32-9 win over Wales.<\/p>\n
Center Robbie Henshaw, who sustained an abductor strain against Wayne Pivac\u2019s side, will also be unavailable at Twickenham.<\/p>\n
Sexton said in the aftermath of the Wales game that he was \u201chopeful\u201d of recovering in time to face Eddie Jones\u2019 men, describing the issue as not feeling \u201ctoo serious\u201d but \u201cvery frustrating\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, a statement from the IRFU has confirmed he will be absent, leaving head coach Andy Farrell with dilemmas surrounding the number 10 jersey and the captaincy.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohnny Sexton has had a scan on the hamstring that forced his removal from the game on Friday night and has been ruled out of this week\u2019s fixture against England,\u201d read a statement on the IRFU website.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobbie Henshaw picked up an abductor strain and is also ruled out of this week\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loss of the long-serving Sexton is compounded by doubts over understudy Billy Burns, who is undergoing return to play protocols as part of a head injury assessment.<\/p>\n
Scrum-half Conor Murray finished Friday\u2019s game in that position after the enforced substitutions of Sexton and debutant Burns, while lock James Ryan took over as skipper.<\/p>\n
There were more positive updates on Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale following their late withdrawals ahead of the Wales game.<\/p>\n
Lock Henderson has returned to training after being absent due to an unspecified medical issue, while full-back Stockdale will continue rehabilitation on his calf problem with a view to resuming training later in the week.<\/p>\n
Uncapped center Shane Daly has also returned to training following a knock.<\/p>\n