JOHNNY SEXTON FEELS he could yet play against England in Twickenham next week.

The Ireland captain went off with a hamstring injury in the first half and will be scanned tomorrow to ascertain the severity of the injury.

Sexton said: “I picked up a strain on my hamstring when I kicked a first half penalty; it was frustrating but most importantly the team won.

“And while I feel we could be a bit more clinical in terms of taking opportunities, you have to remember we are building with the new coaches and the new personnel that we have brought in over the last year. It takes time to bed into international rugby. But we are getting there slowly but surely.

“I don’t know (about whether he will be available for the England game). Hopefully I can bounce back. It does not seem too serious. I will go for a scan tomorrow and see what the result of that is.”

Tonight’s result helps ease the pain of the Six Nations when Ireland missed out on a chance of the title, losing their final game in Paris, despite a fine first half performance against Les Bleus.

“When you get questioned as we have been over the last few weeks, it shows character to bounce back and it shows what type of people we have in our squad,” Sexton said.

“We are very proud to play for this country and you could see out there how much it meant to us and that is what we are most proud of.”

Man of the match Caelan Doris said: “It was good to bounce back after the defeat in Paris. The feeling after that game was that it was an opportunity missed.

“We wanted to get back out here and play again. We were much more clinical tonight and took our opportunities a lot better. The set-piece dominance (we had) is something we are proud of.”

Next up is Twickenham.

Doris said: “England are obviously a quality side. They got one over us earlier in the year and we have to go there and give it everything.”