Andrew Porter vows not to make same Lions mistake twice

There aren’t many pundits and have-a-go Lions selectors who don’t have Andrew Porter inked into their projected squads for this summer’s expedition to Australia. Most haven’t just stamped his passport for the trip Down Under; they also have him down as their favoured starting loosehead for the Test series against the Wallabies.

Given he has enjoyed first-choice status with Ireland for several years now under Andy Farrell, it would be a major shock if the Leinster prop’s name wasn’t included when the Lions head coach unveils his squad on May 8th.

But the man himself is taking nothing for granted, even if he is one of the chosen ones. Four years ago, he was elated to be named in Warren Gatland’s original squad for the 2021 tour of South Africa, only to be forced to withdraw a month later with a toe injury, weeks before the plane departed.

“I wouldn’t be letting it distract me now too much, to be honest,” Porter says as he chews the fat at the start of another potentially pivotal week for Lions contenders, with an Investec Champions Cup quarter-final against Glasgow on Friday looming large.

“I have maybe learned from last time not to get my hopes up too high. I was incredibly excited to be selected and then to have to withdraw late on was obviously gutting.

“So I’m trying not to think too far ahead and just focusing on my form each week. If you turn up for training each day and be the best player you can be, selection looks after itself. It’s your performances day in, day out and your work ethic that gets you there.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

3

Draws

0

Wins

2

Average Points scored

29

21

First try wins

80%

Home team wins

100%

As a rare member of the front-row fraternity regularly still giving his all well into the final quarter of matches, no-one has cause to doubt Porter on that front.

After a well-deserved break following the Six Nations, he and the rest of Leinster’s Ireland front-liners eased themselves back into things with an ominously comfortable 62-0 trouncing of Harlequins in their last-16 fixture at Croke Park on Saturday.

Despite a few early glitches, the match was effectively over as a contest by half-time, but the way Leo Cullen’s side continued to pile on the points right to the end hinted at a side hell-bent on bringing their quest for a fifth European star to a successful conclusion.

Many of Leinster’s star turns may be multiple Six Nations champions, but three Champions Cup final losses in the past three seasons – two to La Rochelle, followed by last year’s injury-time heartbreaker to Toulouse – have left scars still waiting to heal.

“We have done so well to get to the business end and then fallen short at the final hurdle on a few occasions,” Porter noted. “I think that adds fuel to the fire for our group and definitely adds more motivation for me personally. You want to right a few wrongs from the past, show up for your team and do your best for the club.

“It is obviously tough going through those losses. When you get to that stage of the season and get so far, the hurt is definitely there a bit more. Those losses have to amount to some form of motivation I suppose.

“It is not necessarily the main driving factor for this group – we just want to play our best for the guys around us and obviously, to come out with some silverware is the goal every season. This year is hopefully going to be a special one for us, but that doesn’t come without hard graft and putting in your best performances against quality teams.”

While Northampton may await in the semi-finals and one of the French fancies – Toulouse, Bordeaux or Toulon perhaps – could be a final opponent, first they must overcome reigning URC champions Glasgow.

Familiar rivals they may be, but the two teams have not met on league duty since the opening day of last season (a 43-25 home win for Glasgow), with Warriors’ last trip to Dublin in late November 2022 – a 40-5 defeat – also taking place when both sides were without the bulk of their leading internationals.

It is nearly three years since the last meeting when both fielded their strongest available teams. That URC quarter-final in June 2022 ended in a crushing 76-14 victory for Leinster, spelling the end for Danny Wilson as Warriors head coach.

Much has changed in the interim at Glasgow under Franco Smith. Winning at Munster’s Thomond Park and the Bulls’ Loftus Versfeld stronghold in Pretoria en route to the URC title was evidence of a dramatic shift in mindset, while an impressive 43-19 win over Leicester in the last 16 of the elite European tournament was also not lost on Porter.

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Leinster

52 - 0

Full-time

Glasgow

All Stats and Data

“Glasgow are a great outfit; their pack did incredibly well against a fairly experienced Leicester side,” noted the 29-year-old. They’ve got a heap of Scottish internationals and great players across the board.

“We would be foolish to expect a similar result again this week to what happened [against Quins] on Saturday. Set-piece wise, we know exactly what their threats are. They’ve got a great maul and a great scrum, so we have to be on top of our game across the board.

“They are a team that definitely sticks in there – it’s always a bit of a dogfight. As forwards, we know their pack and the threats they have there. We know it is going to be up there in terms of physicality, and their backs bring a lot of speed and tempo, so it is going to be a game that comes hard and fast.

“With all the internationals on both sides, it is probably the closest thing to a Test match as you can get at club level. That adds to the excitement and the standard of the game that’s going to be played on Friday. It should be a great battle.”

Porter’s own personal tussle with Glasgow tighthead Zander Fagerson could be a highlight. The Scotland prop took great delight in giving Tigers’ Wales loosehead Nicky Smith a torrid time on Saturday, while Porter has been a familiar foe for the past decade.

“I have played against Zander for so long now, since the Under-20s,” said the Dubliner. “He is incredible, a big talisman for Glasgow and Scotland as well. He has a huge engine on him for a tighthead, pushing into 70-minute performances. They ask a lot of him in terms of his carrying and his set-piece work. He is obviously a quality operator.

“I’ve had a few run-ins with him now. As props, you think about past performances in terms of what did I do last time that worked, or didn’t work, against this particular player? You have to be on your game when you are up against quality players like him.”

Glasgow, though, will still be missing the likes of Scotland quartet Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones, Scott Cummings and Jack Dempsey. All are close to returning from injuries, but Smith hinted that “they might be a little bit late for this one”, suggesting a European quarter-final “would not be the right game” to pitch them back into.

Leinster will be without lock James Ryan, but otherwise, at close to full strength and with Porter’s front-row mucker Tadgh Furlong back fit and firing, will still start warm favourites at the Aviva Stadium.

Not least because their recruitment last summer was specifically designed to help them return to the winners’ enclosure after three trophy-less seasons.

With Jacques Nienaber’s defensive structure now firmly embedded in his second season in Dublin, the arrival of South Africa’s two-time World Cup-winning lock RG Snyman, France tighthead Rabah Slimani and All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett has already reaped rich rewards, with the greatest dividends still potentially to come.

“Those lads have added something great to the squad,” Porter added. “The amount of experience and flair RG brings to the game… then you have Jordie. He brings a brilliant amount of knowledge for our backs. It feels like Rabah has been around for so long. I remember watching him play when I was younger, and he is still at his best. You see him trucking around the park and scrumming his little legs off.

“They all give a different perspective on things, different cultural and learning experiences from the past. It’s great to learn from them from my own perspective and as a team. They bring heaps of experience and incredible know-how as well.

“It’s great to have them offering that different perspective, as well as Jacques. We are into the second year of his defensive system, and it works incredibly well for us. It is something as a team we have all bought into. Once you have complete buy-in from the group, it’s hard to see a plan fail.”