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Cian Healy weighs in on the medals debate surrounding No1 Ireland

By PA
(Photo by Paul Devlin/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Veteran prop Cian Healy has insisted that becoming the most-capped Ireland Test player would mean very little without lifting the World Cup. Healy is the most experienced international in Andy Farrell’s squad and has an opportunity to secure a place in his country’s record books during the next year.

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The 35-year-old, who looks set to win his 120th cap by making a rare start when the Irish host Fiji on Saturday, needs just 15 more appearances to seize the top spot from Brian O’Driscoll. While the Leinster forward could potentially achieve the feat during the 2023 World Cup in France, his main ambition is silverware.

“I could have 200 caps and no medals and I know where I’d be happier,” he said. “I’d take another five if I got some more silverware for it, instead of another 20. I think a cap number without reward is not so important.”

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Healy sits behind O’Driscoll (133), Ronan O’Gara (128) and Rory Best (124) in the current Ireland caps list, with ten of his last 13 outings coming as a replacement. He has won three Six Nations titles, including the 2018 Grand Slam, in a Test career stretching back to 2009. Farrell’s in-form side held on to their position as rugby’s top-ranked nation at the weekend by downing world champions South Africa in Dublin.

Healy, who came off the Ireland bench in the 19-16 win over the Springboks, played down the significance of that status and, having been reduced to a peripheral role following Andrew Porter’s switch to loosehead, believes he still has plenty to offer. “Personally, I would tend not to look at that sort of stuff,” he said. “I wouldn’t take a ranking into account because I don’t have a medal for a ranking. That is how I look at things.”

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Speaking about his role within the squad, he said: “I have to drag the best out of myself and be in a position that, if called upon, I’m there to do a job. To me, that’s the fun part of it. The competition week in, week out and pushing for the top spot because if you lose that drive there is no point in being in here.”

Head coach Farrell is expected to make a host of changes for the Fiji clash at the Aviva Stadium before Ireland’s autumn campaign concludes against Australia a week later. Healy is likely to be joined in the front row by fellow prop Finlay Bealham, with first-choice pair Porter and Tadhg Furlong poised to be rested. Australia-born Bealham has won only four of his 26 caps as a starter.

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While he accepts permanently dislodging Furlong will be a major ask, the Connacht forward hopes to give Farrell further food for thought. “Tadhg is obviously a world-class player and he is a British Lion and everything like that but I need to be pushing him and making him better and making myself better,” said Bealham.

“I wouldn’t see myself as a backup player. I can fill that role and keep pushing myself and finding new limits to where I can go and see what happens. Tadhg has been very good to me. I work a lot with him in terms of reviewing training and preparation, just kind of bouncing ideas off him, learning from him as best as I can, and asking him questions about what I could do better, little things like that.

“We catch up most nights and sit down for an hour and go through training, go through scrums, all that fun stuff, and have a really good conversation about things. That has been an area where I have got a lot of growth so I’m very thankful to him for letting me.”

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N
NH 1 hour ago
'The Wallabies need to convert much better - or Melbourne could be much worse'

Nice one as always Brett. I think the stats hide a bit of the dominance the lions had, and they would look alot worse in that first half when the game was more in the balance. You mention it here but I think it hasn’t been talked about enough was the lineout. The few times the wallabies managed to exit their half and get an opportunity to attack in the 1st half, the lineout was lost. This was huge in terms of lions keeping momentum and getting another chance to attack, rather than the wallabies getting their chance and to properly ‘exit’ their half. The other one you touch on re “the will jordan bounce of the ball” - is kick chase/receipt. I thought that the wallabies kicked relatively well (although were beaten in this area - Tom L rubbish penalty kicks for touch!), but our kick receipt and chase wasn’t good enough jorgenson try aside. In the 1st half there was a moment where russell kicked for a 50:22 and potter fumbled it into touch after been caught out of position, lynagh makes a similar kick off 1st phase soon after and keenan is good enough to predict the kick, catch it at his bootlaces and put a kick in. That kick happened to go out on the full but it was a demonstration on the difference in positioning etc. This meant that almost every contested kick that was spilled went the way of the lions, thats no accident, that is a better chase, more urgency, more players in the area. Wallabies need to be better in who fields their kicks getting maxy and wright under most of them and Lynagh under less, and the chase needs to be the responsibility of not just one winger but a whole group of players who pressure not just the catch but the tackle, ruck and following phase.

17 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Thanks for the further background to player welfare metrics Nick.


Back on the last article I noted that WR is now dedicating a whole section in their six-point business plan to this topic. It also noted that studies indicated 85-90% of workload falls outside of playing. So in respect to your point on the classification of ‘involvements’ included even subs with a low volume of minutes, it actually goes further, to the wider group of players that train as if they’re going to be required to start on the weekend, even if they’re outside the 23. That makes even the 30-35 game borderline pale into insignificance.


No doubt it is won of the main reasons why France has a quota on the number of one clubs players in their International camps, and rotate in other clubs players through the week. The number of ‘invisible’ games against a player suggests the FFRs 25 game limit as more appropriate?


So if we take it at face value that Galthie and the FFR have got it right, only a dozen players from the last 60 international caps should have gone on this tour. More players from the ‘Scotland 23’ than the more recent 23.


The only real pertinent question is what do players prefer more, health or money? There are lots of ethical decisions, like for instance whether France could make a market like Australia’s where their biggest rugby codes have yearly broadcast deals of 360 and 225 million euros. They do it by having a 7/8 month season.

68 Go to comments
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LONG READ Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us