No body part in Irish sport is as closely monitored as Johnny Sexton's head. Sexton's history with concussion and all of the soundings from around world sport about the head injury crisis assure that there is added scrutiny involved every time Sexton gets a knock to the head.
There is a strand of thought online that suggests that the people who pay Johnny Sexton's wages have different interests than the people who look after Johnny Sexton's health. We are not saying these people are right, but merely saying they exist. The internet was a wildfire of conspiracy theory on the day Johnny Sexton was scratched from the World Cup quarterfinal after being named to start two days previous, and similar suspicions were being expressed again this afternoon when it was announced by Leo Cullen that Johnny Sexton had actually passed his head injury assessment against Wasps Saturday. This was less than 48 hours after Cullen had said that Sexton failed the HIA.
Having spoke with a press representative of Leinster this afternoon, this is the timeline as we understand it.
- Johnny Sexton smashed heads with former teammate Brendan Macken nine minutes into the Wasps match. Clearly shaken up, Sexton was brought off the field for HIA.
- Sexton passed the questionnaire that goes with the HIA, but Leinster's medical team decided not to release Sexton back to play. A number of factors were weighing on their minds. Sexton's past track record with head injury would have likely played some part in their decision.
- In the heat of the battle around a live sports game, Cullen took Sexton's failure to return to the game as a sign that he had failed the HIA.
- During the final pod of interviews with Irish media, Cullen was asked if Sexton had failed the HIA. Cullen said that he had. This statement was picked up by a member of the Leinster media team, who was listening to the briefing and subsequently tweeted out.
INJURY UPDATE: Johnny failed HIA, enters return to play protocols & Marty hamstring issue. #WASvLEIN
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) January 23, 2016
Johnny Sexton failed Head Injury Assessment (HIA) - confirmed.
— Gavin Cummiskey (@Cumoski) January 23, 2016
When the medical reports from the game were being filed and processed yesterday, Leinster's coaching staff realised that Sexton had not actually failed the HIA test after all, and subsequently clarified their position this afternoon.
The IRFU have reported this afternoon that Sexton has passed two head injury assessments today and will face another tomorrow. If he passes those, we imagine he will be cleared to play against Wales on Sunday week. That is the story as we understand it.
In other Ireland news, Robbie Henshaw has been given a clean bill of health while Finlay Beacham was called in as cover for Marty Moore.
