Ireland have nothing to fear from Boks, says injured Healy

Though an injury-weakened Ireland face a South Africa side unchanged from the one that beat New Zealand last month, Cian Healy believes his colleagues have nothing to fear.

South Africa ended the All Blacks’ 22-match unbeaten run with a 27-25 win on October 4 and have brought a vastly experienced squad to Dublin with three players, captain Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield and Bryan Habana boasting more than a century of caps each. But Healy insists Ireland wouldn’t be quaking in their boots.

“I don’t think players will have too much of that stuff in their heads,” Healy said. “I think there’s a lot of self-belief in the camp, especially with the drills that Joe has run and how on the ball he has everyone.

“I don’t think there’s any fear from any of the lads, it’s a positive mood, they’re happy out and from the lads I was talking to, training is going well. So when you’re in that mind frame going into a game you’re in a good place.”

The 27-year-old, who misses out after tearing a hamstring in September, bristled when asked if Ireland need to forget about the opposition’s reputation.

“Respect is due teams who have done amazing things, but you have to put it to one side and think about your own game. I don’t put too much thought into the opposition. I don’t like to put any team on a pedestal based on what they’ve done in the past. ”

With hooker Rory Best also ruled out only Mike Ross still stands from last season’s regular front row. Healy will watch the game from the comfort of home where he says he can better analyse the scrum, paying particular attention to potential replacement Jack McGrath.

“Give him a sniff of the jersey and he’s a driven enough player who’s not going to want to let it go. There’s quality behind all of the positions now. You’ve seen that with myself in the last few years, if there was anything with me or Jack, if either of us had to step up. It kind of works as a team then, you’re covering each other and you’re getting your job done working hard. It’s started to be seen more now when you actually work with someone in your position — it’s got to be more beneficial than having a thing against them.”

Healy won’t start running until December after an injury he says was the most painful of his career. “Jamie (Heaslip) was slagging me about the shriek I left out! It’s not because of over-training or over-tiredness. It was literally a freak one, jamming my foot in the ground. I just extended the whole back of my leg and folded over it so it just popped out of the back. It was only a small scar (from the operation), a four or five inch cut. I gather there’s pins in the hip or in the pelvis and threads at the end of them. That’s what the hamstring is reattached to. Knowing that tells me a little bit more about how cautious I have to be because it’s literally hanging on by a thread.

“The surgeon said I’ll probably be able to run at the end of December and from that it’s just how quickly I can make it back and hopefully make it into selection contention for the Six Nations. I won’t go on a pitch until I’m in a position I feel I can fully empty the tank and do myself and the lads justice. You can’t expect to go on when you’re 70% when you have the likes of Jack and Killer (David Kilcoyne) in Munster and players like that. They’re ticking away at 100% and working their balls off, so I can’t go and do it half-arsed. That’s why all of this time is opportunity to have everything else bang on.”

* Cian Healy was speaking at the launch of the new Irish-made King Koil bed range at the Docklands, Dublin.