Johnny Sexton will return to the Ireland camp unscathed ahead of the autumn international against Samoa on Saturday.

The Racing Metro outhalf returned to Paris on Friday evening to take his place among the replacements for the Top 14 clash with Biarritz, but was unused in the surprise 9-6 defeat to the Basque side.

The news will come as a relief to Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who was unable to prevent Sexton from returning to France when recalled by his club.

The former Leinster outhalf has played played 13 games in 12 weeks since the beginning of the season and started in all but two of those.

Had he played a part in a 14th game, Schmidt would have likely been forced to overlook a player he described last week as as "pretty tired" and "pretty flat", in a bid ot keep him fresh for the games against Australia and New Zealand.

That may yet happen, of course, for it would suit Racing, who did not turn to Sexton in their time of need yesterday, if he were to only play two of three interntional games this month.