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Why Ireland won't be moving Cian Healy on in a hurry

By PA
Cian Healy raises his hand in victory - PA

Ireland prop Andrew Porter believes veteran mentor Cian Healy remains a “huge asset” at international level following his record-equalling outing against Argentina.

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Healy moved alongside Brian O’Driscoll as his country’s joint most-capped player after replacing fellow Leinster loosehead Porter for the final 13 minutes of Friday evening’s nervy 22-19 win in Dublin.

The 37-year-old, who made the first of his 133 Test appearances exactly 15 years earlier and is nicknamed ‘Church’ by team-mates, received a rapturous reception from the Aviva Stadium crowd, including O’Driscoll, who was in the stands working as a pundit.

He will almost certainly claim the outright record during the next fortnight as Andy Farrell’s side conclude their autumn campaign by hosting Fiji and Australia.

“When I first came in, Churchy was the best – still is, I’d argue – loosehead in the world,” said Porter.

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“I owe a lot to him in my own development. He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes.

“He’s definitely a unique character. I don’t think you have too many people who can play all positions across the front row, and he can do them quite well as well.

“He’s a huge asset to both Leinster and Ireland and he’ll continue to be, it’s not his last game.

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“He’s a great fella and it’s great to be able to share the day with him and hopefully he can push that on and add a few more to it.”

While the long-serving Healy wrote his name into the history books, there were landmark appearances for Leinster rookies Thomas Clarkson and Sam Prendergast at the other end of the spectrum.

Cian Healy
Loosehead Cian Healy has played across all 3 front-row positions as a professional player – PA

Prop Clarkson, 24, made his Ireland debut as a temporary first-half replacement after Finlay Bealham was sin-binned before returning in the second period, while 21-year-old fly-half Prendergast impressed on his international bow in the final half an hour.

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“Being in Leinster with Tom, I’ve been able to see his progression in training and in games as well,” said Porter.

“It’s great for Tom and you saw how well he did, he fit in very well, you wouldn’t think it was his first cap with the confidence he was playing with and what he added when he came on.

“I’m delighted for him. It was a huge day for him and I’d say it’s the first of many for Tom, and for Sam as well.”

Cian Healy Thomas Clarkson
Hugo Keenan, Josh van der Flier and Tom Clarkson – Press Association

Ireland scraped over the line against Argentina to bounce back from last week’s loss to New Zealand thanks to a try, two conversions and a drop goal from fly-half Jack Crowley, in addition to scores from Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy.

The hosts failed to trouble the scoreboard in the second period as Argentina fell agonisingly short of an upset following 14 points from the boot of Tomas Albornoz and Juan Cruz Mallia’s fine individual try.

“It wasn’t really until I came off at the end and looked at the scoreboard that I realised how close it was,” said Porter.

“It definitely felt like we had a great first half and maybe we let the foot off the pedal a bit in the second half.

“But I think it’s hugely positive. We were flowing a bit more in our attack and you kind of saw what we could do, especially in the first half.

“We’ll take a lot from (that) and bring it into next week.”

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Comments

1 Comment
B
Bull Shark 24 days ago

“When I first came in, Churchy was the best – still is, I’d argue – loosehead in the world,” said Porter.

Complete and utter Balls.

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Comments on RugbyPass

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JW 47 minutes ago
'It doesn’t make sense for New Zealand to deny itself access to world-class players'

There are a couple of inadequacies in this articles points as well.


First

Robertson, in what he has said publicly, is building his argument for change as a means to close the gap that is increasing between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Based on recent performances, the All Blacks are better than the Springboks.


Second

Both games saw the All Blacks lead coming into the last 30 minutes, only for the momentum to shift dramatically once the two sides emptied their respective benches.

The failings of the second half were game plan related, they happened regardless of whether the bench had yet (play got worse very early in the half, even in the first half) been used or not.


And third

Robertson’s view is that because the Boks don’t lose access to their experienced players when they head offshore, it gives them an advantage

Didn't Razor have the most experienced team all year?


Also

“Sam Cane and Ardie Savea with Wallace Siti, what a balance that is.

This is part of Razor's problem. That's a terrible balance. You instead want something like Sam Cane, Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Sititi. Or Ardie Savea, Sititi, Scott Barrett. Dalton Papaili'i, Savea, Finau. That is balance, not two old struggling to keep up players and an absolute rookie.

It has changed. Not many go north, more go to Japan, so how do we get the balance right to ensure that players who have given loyalty, longevity and who are still playing well

Experience is a priceless commodity in international rugby and New Zealand has a system where it throws away players precisely when they are at their most valuable.

You mean how do we take advantage of this new environment, because nothing has effectively changed has it. It's simply Japan now instead of Europe. What's it going to be like in the future, how is the new American league going to change things?


Mo'unga is the only real valid reason for debating change, but what's far more important is the wide discussion happening that's taking the whole game into account. The current modem throws players away because they decided to go with a 5 team model rather than a 12 or 14 team model. Players have to be asked to leave at the point were we know they aren't going to be All Blacks, when they are playing their best rugby, reached their peak. In order to reset, and see if the next guy coming through can improve on the 'peak' of the last guy. Of course it's going to take years before they even reach the departing players standards, let alone see if they can pass them.


What if there can be a change that enables New Zealand to have a model were players like Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ethan Roots, Warner Dearns are All Blacks that make their experienced and youth developemnt the envy of the World. That is the discussion that really needs to be had, not how easy it is to allow Mo'unga to play again. That's how the All Blacks end up winning 3 World Cups in a row.

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