Six Nations 2016: England vs Ireland - Eddie Jones says red-rose will target ‘whiplash-suffering’ Jonny Sexton

The Ireland outside-half Jonny Sexton, probably the most injury-prone playmaker in European international rugby as well as the most accomplished, found himself at the centre of a fierce exchange over sporting ethics as the England hierarchy raised questions over his physical well-being ahead of Saturday evening’s Six Nations contest between the two countries at Twickenham.

Sexton, good enough to be a prize scalp for opposition teams the world over, took a good deal of punishment in the opening Championship game against Wales the best part of three weeks ago and was badly biffed around by the French in Paris six days later – after which the Irish management used the phrase “whiplash injury” in respect of a player with a long history of concussion issues.

When the 30-year-old Dubliner’s name was mentioned during the England selection announcement, the red-rose coach, Eddie Jones, had plenty to say in response. “Sexton is an interesting one,” the Australian remarked. “A whiplash injury? That’s not a great thing to talk about. I’m sure his mother and father would be worried about a thing like that. Hopefully, the lad’s all right to play.”

Jones was immediately asked if England would “target” Sexton and if so, whether he felt it was a legitimate tactic – a question he felt was “stupid” and went out of his way to say so. “We target players all the time,” he replied. “It’s part of rugby, is it not? Are you saying there’s some special law concerning certain individuals?

“There are 15 players out there. Are we supposed not to run at one of them – to say: ‘Hang on, he has a red dot on his head, we don’t run at him’? We’re not going to run at their strongest defenders, are we? Why would we want to do that? We’ll always run at their weakest because we want to win the game. To say that’s unfair is just ridiculous.”

Having already warmed to his theme, Jones raised the temperature of the argument. “I’m just saying, I’d be worried about Sexton’s welfare if he’s had a whiplash injury,” he commented. “Maybe people have been using the wrong terminology, but ‘whiplash’ means severe trauma and you don’t want to hear about any player being affected by something like that.

“We know what’s come out of American football, which has gone through a terrible situation with concussion, and we’re here playing a physically violent game where people are banging into other people without much protection. You have to worry about welfare. But it’s ridiculous to suggest that by running at a player you’re doing something that’s not in the spirit of the game. Do you think Ireland are not going to send Robbie Henshaw [the powerful centre from Connacht] at George Ford [the diminutive England outside-half] on the weekend? Give me a break.

“And anyway, I’m not saying Sexton is a weak tackler. He’s not weak at all. He’s a big boy – twice the size of Ford – and I’m sure he can look after himself. He’s no shrinking violet.”

Jones made two changes to the England line-up that started against Italy: Joe Marler replaces Mako Vunipola at loose-head prop, while Maro Itoje makes his first appearance in the run-on side at lock for the injured Joe Launchbury.

The Ireland coach, Joe Schmidt, dismissed Jones’ comments as “extraneous”, adding: “If we’re distracted by that, it’s a waste of time and energy. We get little enough time together as it is.”