Sexton absence not a 'deficit' for Ireland - Henderson

Iain Henderson says the absence of Johnny Sexton doesn't weaken Ireland in any way.

The Ireland captain missed the 30-24 loss to France on Saturday with a mild hamstring injury, which paved the way for erstwhile deputy Joey Carbery to step up for his first Guinness Six Nations start.

A veteran of two Lions tours, the 36-year Sexton, world player of the year in 2018, has 102 caps and has been in some of his best form over the last five months.

Henderson, who was twice used off the bench after injuries to James Ryan and Peter O'Mahony, believes Carbery, 26, is up to the task of taking the team forward.

"We would train a lot of the week with Joey and Johnny and Jack [Carty] swapping quite regularly, so you're used to dealing with them and everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet," he said.

"The lads had full confidence going into that game. It didn't really cross my mind when I heard that Johnny wasn't playing and I was happy with Joey playing.

"He was calling the shots out there and when I'm calling lineouts I go to him and get the info and feed it back to the forwards. It feels comfortable.

"As class as Johnny is when he's in there, when Joey steps up I don't feel like there's any deficit."

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Asked what the key difference between the sides, the Ulster lock who won his 66th cap in Paris, said: "Probably around the breakdown.

"We had tried to identify a few things they do in previous games.

"They throw a lot of people into rucks, try to make it scrappy.

"Obviously, the way we like