IRELAND

Ireland expect Johnny Sexton, Rob Kearney and Conor Murray all to prove their fitness for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash with France by training fully on Tuesday.

Sexton has missed Ireland's two RBS 6 Nations clashes after calf trouble, while Kearney has nursed a biceps injury and Murray sat out training on Friday with a slight adductor issue.

Ireland refused to give up hope that Sexton could have been fit to face first Scotland then Italy in the Six Nations' opening fortnight, and again find themselves in a similar situation.

But team manager Paul Dean tipped the British and Irish Lions fly-half to confirm his readiness for Saturday's Dublin clash with France, with flanker Peter O'Mahony also expected back after hamstring concerns.

"Everybody looks good to fully train tomorrow," said Ireland team manager Dean.

"Johnny Sexton will play a part in training today, but will fully train tomorrow. Hopefully when he comes through that, he'll be fine for the weekend.

"Rob Kearney continues to make progress. He'll do some contact work today and he'll fully train tomorrow.

"If you talk to Johnny and Rob they'll both say that they're 100 per cent fit and ready to go, so we just need the medics to pass them and they need to prove to us that they are.

"Conor Murray's workload was managed in Monaghan last week. It was a difficult week for the players last week, but I'm happy to report that the outlook is positive.

"Conor was tight, so we thought it prudent to call up Kieran Marmion. He trained with Connacht on Thursday, with us on Friday and he was rested at the weekend."

Josh van der Flier could miss the rest of the Six Nations after suffering a shoulder injury, though the Leinster flanker's absence should be offset by Munster back-rower O'Mahony's return to fitness.

Reports in France claim Ian Madigan will seek to cut his stay in Bordeaux short - but in a bid to join an Aviva Premiership club rather than return to Ireland.

Ireland have again overlooked the former Leinster fly-half for their squad to prepare to face France, continuing their policy of preferring to select home-based stars.

Team manager Dean admitted his personal wish would be for Madigan to return to one of the Irish provinces should he opt out of his Bordeaux deal.

"I'd personally love to see him back in Ireland," said Dean.

"We'd be able to invite him to the sessions, keep an eye on him and watch his progress. It's difficult when you're abroad, as we all know.

"I think the Premiership, he'd be better off coming home in my book, let's say."

ENGLAND

Jonny May hopes to follow Elliot Daly's lead by thriving for England after an on-field misdemeanour.

May started the RBS 6 Nations on the wing, but after receiving a yellow card for a tip-tackle was dropped by Eddie Jones for the second match with Wales.

The Gloucester wing does not know if the sin-bin offence was held against him.

But Daly has recovered from November's red card against Argentina and subsequent three-week ban to start the first two Six Nations Tests and scored the decisive try in Cardiff.

Jones has hinted at changes for next Sunday's visit of Italy, when England chase a 17th successive Test win, meaning May could be recalled.

"I'm pleased that that wasn't held against him because he's come back and showed that he deserves to be where he is because he's playing really well," May said.

"The France game was the one where we weren't at our best and I got a yellow card which didn't help me.

"Who knows if the card played a part (in selection)? We always get judged on what we do out on the pitch and that's a negative impact on the game.

"It wasn't a great start to the game for me but I came back on and worked as hard as I could to have a positive impact on the game.

"That's all you can do on the wing, is do what you can with what you get. I tried my best."

Jones has spoken of his desire to have a 'racehorse' on one wing and a 'worker bee' on the other.

May, a racehorse, was replaced by Jack Nowell, a worker bee, when England went to Wales. Daly, something of a mix and usually a centre for Wasps, retained his place.

"Eddie just said he wanted a different type of player for the Wales game in Jack - and he was awesome against Wales," May said.

The return to fitness of Bath flyer Anthony Watson presents further competition for May, who has 24 caps and eight tries.

"I guess me and Ant would be under the racehorse category, so I guess we are competing for spots with one another," May added.

The 26-year-old declined to say who was quicker of the squad's two fast men, adding that "quick enough" Daly has "got gas as well".

Watson and Daly are options at full-back, where the Wasps man has been earmarked as deputy to Mike Brown. It is an experiment which could be seen against Italy.

England used the fallow week to create more off-field bonds, going 10-pin bowling after Jones incorporated judo and beach football at previous training camps.

Often there is plenty of time to rest, too, and May has watched documentaries on the secretive North Korea.

Ben Te'o revealed he and May had been plotting a trip to Pyongyang to see what life is like under Kim Jong-un's regime for themselves.

"We were only joking around. I didn't actually want to go to North Korea, it was a laugh," May added.

"You start watching a couple of things and you get into it and you think, 'oh my god, I'll watch a bit more'.

"I watched a few documentaries on YouTube about it and it is fascinating - it's scary how different their lives are over there."

May laughed when asked if there were comparisons between autocratic ruler Kim and England head coach Jones, who has overseen 15 of the 16 Tests in the winning run.

"Nothing like it. Completely different," May added.