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| Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 19 November Kick-off: 20:00 GMT |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds; live text commentary and match report on the BBC Sport website |
Johnny Sexton has said that he will be fit for Ireland’s Autumn Test against Australia in Dublin on Saturday.
Ireland’s captain sustained a dead leg in the win over South Africa on 5 November and was not considered for last weekend’s game against Fiji.
“It’s good to go. It feels good and I’m ready,” said the Ireland fly-half, 37.
Ireland’s number 10 resources are severely depleted with Joey Carbery, who started against Fiji, and Ciaran Frawley both ruled out.
Carbery is unavailable for Saturday’s game after sustaining a head injury in last weekend’s contest while Frawley will be sidelined for a number of months following knee surgery on Tuesday.
Sexton’s Leinster team-mate Ross Byrne was called into the squad as cover on Tuesday with Munster’s Jack Crowley the other fly-half option for Andy Farrell having made his debut off the bench against Fiji.
Despite his advancing years, Sexton’s remains the orchestrator for the Irish and his availability is welcome news for the world’s top-ranked team as they face an Australia smarting from last weekend’s shock defeat in Italy.
The Ireland captain acknowledged that he had been concerned that he was in danger of missing this weekend’s contest.
“A little bit. Last week was a bit of a struggle with swelling and fluid and stuff like that,” Sexton told a news conference.
“It was just managing that and making sure I get the right amount of training in this week to be able to perform but also not do too much that swells it up again.”
