Healy puts head down to get around road Bok

AT just 24 years of age, Cian Healy is still something of a beginner when it comes to the art of propping but the Clontarf man has nonetheless matured since his return from World Cup duties in New Zealand.

Like countless others, Healy found that time had not stood still back at the day job. Heinke van der Merwe was in situ at openside and the South African has been hard to unseat in the 10 or so weeks since.

Healy has had to brush off the odd niggle and knock and Leinster have engaged in a head-spinning amount of rotation in terms of personnel but the inescapable fact is that the young Irishman has so far played second string to the Bok.

Ego, pride and self-preservation — human nature, in other words — all come into play in these circumstances but Healy’s reaction has been different to what it may have been in similar circumstances only a few short seasons ago.

“I was thinking about that only recently,” he said of his competition with Van der Merwe. “When I was a little less mature I was like, “this is annoying, someone else is good here”. But now I’m starting to notice that it’s bringing about [improvements] in my game because I’m pushing myself more than I thought I had to. I’m starting to notice in scrummaging I’m working on new things. In training I’m running around more because I want to be doing more things. It’s nice and healthy. Myself, Jack [McGrath] and himself [Van der Merwe] have been pushing each other.”

Any minor injuries he may have carried are in the past. The part-time DJ who loves to spin discs for a living is “ready to rock and roll” on Sunday when Leinster seek the win in Glasgow that would secure their place in the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.

It isn’t the first roadblock Healy has encountered in a professional career that already spans six seasons. The most serious was thrown up in a European semi-final in Toulouse in 2009 when he was destroyed in the scrum and replaced before half time.

The image of the young Healy sitting disconsolate on the bench, his head covered with a towel while the game progressed, remains vivid more than two-and-a-half years on.

His scrummaging has improved immeasurably in the intervening period and episodes such as that have clearly helped in preparing him for times like these, when his claim to the number one jersey is being contested with such vigour.

The day you stand still in this game is the day you fall behind.

“You’ve got to be adaptable to anything. There is going to be someone younger than me coming in so I’ve got to be able to deal with what he has. Same with me: when I came in, I had things that lads didn’t really know what to deal with and they dealt with me. It comes around full circle.”

He’s never going to be mistaken for some Zen-like character on the field — no self-respecting forward would — but Healy’s newfound maturity may even have carried over into his temperament while on the park too.

A regular wind-up target for opponents, he is taking that in his stride now, too.

“I notice people having a pull off me but it’s grand. You get on with it and give them an old push back the odd time. Joe [Schmidt] gives me a bit of a freaker for that, so I’ll have to leave that out now. It’s part of it. Some people think they can target someone, get a rise out of them and take them off their game.

“It means you’re causing them a bit of hassle if they feel the need to focus on you. If I’m not focusing on them and they’re focusing on me then I’ve already got the upper hand.”