Healy keen to face down the big boys

IRELAND’S new loose head prop Cian Healy is too unassuming to allow familiarity breed contempt when he faces South Africa at Croke Park this afternoon. His direct opponent from the start will be BJ Botha, who plies his trade with Ulster, while one of the Boks’ possible replacements in the front row is Healy’s Leinster colleague CJ Van der Linde.

It’s just another of the little cameos that makes this clash of Ireland and South Africa so appealing, and why the 22-year-old from Clontarf is counting down the hours to his second senior appearance for Ireland.

Progress for such a young man operating in a position usually reserved for those in their late 20s and early 30s has been meteoric but not surprising given he was also a member of Ireland’s U20 Grand Slam-winning team less than three years ago and helped Leinster to Heineken Cup glory last May.