Debutants ready to rumble for Ireland

Tadhg Furlong has plenty to celebrate in his own right after being a first start for Ireland but he is also backing Test debutant Quinn Roux to shine in tomorrow’s second Test against South Africa.

Both tighthead prop Furlong and lock Roux have been handed their chance as head coach Joe Schmidt rolled the dice and freshened things up following the victory at Newlands last weekend which saw Ireland take a 1-0 series lead ahead of this Ellis Park encounter.

For the front rower it means promotion ahead of provincial team-mate and long-time Ireland incumbent Mike Ross and yesterday he said the inclusion of Roux on his side of the scrum was an additional confidence boost.

The pair worked together at Leinster before the South African-born second row moved to Connacht and for Furlong tomorrow will be a welcome reunion.

“He’s a good man to park behind you. Stand and look at the man and he’s a big old unit, lads,” Furlong said.

“He transfers really good power across the scrum. He holds a really good connection with his lock and with my left leg and the hooker’s right. He transfers a lot of power and he’s eager to scrum.

“He likes scrummaging and he’s an out-and-out tight-head lock, which makes a big difference. It’s good to have him behind you and you can have confidence he’s going to push and push and push, and all you to worry then about is trying to keep their prop and hooker down and true.”

Furlong finished the opening Test in Cape Town last Saturday having replaced Ross for the final 21 minutes. He brought a real impact to the cause as Ireland battled with 14 men to secure the 26-20 win, marking the 23-year-old’s second win over South Africa, having beaten them at U20 level in nearby Stellenbosch four years earlier.

“Me and Hendy (Iain Henderson). Stu (Olding) didn’t play that day but he was in the squad, as was Kieran Marmion. It was sort of surreal in one way after the game (last Saturday). I looked over at Hendy. ‘Jeeze, two from two against South Africa.’ It’s sort of hard to believe in a way.

“Obviously this one was a much bigger occasion doing it at Test level, and especially to do it when the U20s had beaten New Zealand as well. It was incredible. It’s not a bad record to have I suppose.”

Furlong’s appearance off the bench last week was his sixth for Ireland having debuted against Wales in a World Cup warm-up last August. His most recent cap was less enjoyable, Furlong part of a front row put under the cosh by a more streetwise French pack at Stade de France in February during the Six Nations.

The Wexford prop is philosophical about the experience.

“It was tough but I suppose it was a different type of scrum. I think of scrummaging as a feeling, because you can’t look at the scrum (when you’re in it). You can do analysis and it’s a bit different, but I’m thinking of a feeling when I’m in there.

“It was just a different feeling to what I’ve felt before, that a tighthead comes across hard, a hooker coming across and (French loosehead Eddy) Ben Arous stepping across and up.

“It was sort of weird and looking back on it, I don’t think my shape was overly bad. Being honest, it probably shakes you a little bit with the importance of those scrums, although they were obviously trying for a penalty try they didn’t get one but still scored a try off the back of the scrum.

“You probably just have to reassess and when you look at it back you think that’s actually not that bad. Coming towards the end of the season, my scrummaging has found a bit of form and there’s no bigger test than this weekend.

“I’ve six appearances, but I’ve been floating around there in the background for a lot more games, especially in the World Cup there.

“You see all the prep, the last Six Nations previously I was in and out so you have that wealth of experience in terms of knowing the systems, how things work. But this is the first time I’m going to trot out on to the field and start. It’s very exciting, a very proud moment and it’s a huge test.”