Healy: Irish front row ready to silence critics

Cian Healy insists Ireland view their confrontation with the feared French scrum as a welcome opportunity to re-establish some pride.

The Irish set-piece has been the team’s weakest link for some time and was a shortcoming highlighted by Italy at the Stadio Flaminio last weekend.

In contrast, France’s scrum consistently pulverised Scotland during their 34-21 victory in Paris, securing a first-half penalty try.

But far from approaching tomorrow’s RBS 6 Nations showdown at Aviva Stadium with trepidation, Leinster prop Healy insists the Irish front row are ready to silence their critics.

“I love the opportunity to challenge. A lot of things have been put down about us this week....like the Irish scrum,” he said.

“People have been saying things so it’s good to be going against a French scrum that has had such a dominant week.

“We’ll be big underdogs in the scrum so it will be a nice challenge to go out there and try to put one over them.

“I watched a bit of France’s game against Scotland to see how they were scrummaging, their angles and technique. We’ve been looking at ways to deal with it in training.

“We know the type of scrummagers those lads are. They’re short lads and are able to get in there. It will be all about our angles and how we work together.

“They could have the strongest scrum in the Six Nations, but then there are a lot of powerful forwards out there.

“We’re not going to try and soak it up on the first scrum, we’ll go full on at them – try to make a statement early on.”

Healy stresses that the scrum remains a key aspect of the game and admits that facing France will be a step into the unknown.

“It’s crucial to get the scrum perfect so that you don’t get penalised, otherwise you can be three points down with the quality of kickers that are out there,” he said.

“We’re trying to release our quality backline so we’re also looking for a steady scrum. The scrum has a big influence on the match.

“Playing in the Six Nations is different to playing in the Magners League where you’re constantly playing people you know. You almost build a relationship with who you’re up against.

“Usually in the Six Nations you’re up against someone you don’t know a whole lot about. That’s a challenge.”

Ireland enter a pivotal match in their Six Nations campaign knowing victory would see them take a giant stride towards reclaiming the title they won in 2009.

France, who replaced them as Grand Slam champions, have lost just once in the last seven meetings between the rivals and Healy knows a major improvement on last Saturday’s error-strewn 13-11 victory over Italy is imperative.

“We do need a big performance because we’re not happy with the level of skill shown in Rome given the players we have,” he said.

“There were balls down and things like that which just isn’t good enough at this level. It’s been pretty heavily policed this week that we’re going to fix it this week.”