Johnny Sexton previews Ireland v England

Johnny Sexton was stunned by Stander’s decision to retire and hopes Ireland can give him a fitting send off with victory over England. The 30-year-old is set to pull on the Irish jersey for the 51st and final time when Eddie Jones’ side visit Dublin for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations finale. “(I was) shocked – didn’t see it coming. They called into a meeting yesterday morning, him, Faz (Andy Farrell); it was the last thing I thought I was getting called in for,” said Ireland captain Sexton. “Literally, if you gave me a thousand things to guess, it wouldn’t have even registered on it. “He’s just taking the decision on family reasons and we respect him for that but he’s a big loss to Munster and Irish rugby, he’s been huge for both teams over the last five, six years. “Very shocked but we wish him well and we hope that his last game in green will be one to remember.”