Johnny Sexton declared fit for Ireland's Six Nations game against Italy

Ireland have received a much-needed boost ahead of their postponed Six Nations game against Italy to be played on Saturday at Aviva Stadium with skipper Johnny Sexton declared fit.

The 6ft 2in fly-half has recovered from a hamstring injury and participated in full training on Tuesday.

"I trained fully on Saturday - was sort of being managed a little bit on Saturday - and then trained fully today," Sexton said on Tuesday.

"I feel good, thankfully. I did some good work over the last couple of weeks so hopefully I will be able to hit the ground running on Saturday."

Andy Farrell's side are already without Ulster skipper Iain Henderson for the remainder of the tournament following his red-card incident during the game against Ospreys.

Ireland are currently at fourth place in the table but a bonus point win against Italy will take them to the top position after the completion of fourth round. They will lock horns with France in Paris in the fifth and final round on 31st October.