Sexton 'agrees' with Farrell's Carbery call for Italy

Andy Farrell says Johnny Sexton agrees with his decision to start Joey Carbery against Italy on Sunday.

The head coach has opted to leave his captain, who missed the loss to France with a hamstring injury, in reserve and hands 26-year-old Carbery his second Guinness Six Nations start for the Aviva Stadium meeting with the Azzurri (3pm).

"Joey stepped in very late last week in that Johnny got injured on the last training day of the week," said Farrell.

"He obviously didn't get a full week to prepare, to run the side, he gets that opportunity this week on the back of a good performance.

"After analsying the performance, Joey would admit to you himself that he would love the opportunity to put a few things right and add to that performance and add to his experience at this level so it just makes sense.

"And the person that agrees with that is Johnny. He’s the captain of the side, you know, he wants what’s best for the team as well.

"Back-to-back Test matches is a great experience for anyone, especially someone in a pivotal position like fly-half.

"Joey handled the occasion very well last week. There’s a lot that he’s learned from the game and he is ready to put that into action this week."

Farrell has made six changes to the side that lost in Paris, among them is a debut for Ulster full-back Michael Lowry.

"We’re all excited to see him get his chance. He deserves it," he said.

"He came into camp first and foremost over the summer as a stand-in and he performed very well in training under pressure then and since and you can see it has whetted his appetite.

"You can see it in his performances for Ulster but more importantly we have seen it under pressure here in camp which is sometimes far and away the most extreme pressure that the