Dave Kilcoyne hoping to claim no.1 jersey from 'excellent' Cian Healy

There can be few more satisfying experiences for a replacement than coming off the bench and making an immediate impact and Ireland’s Dave Kilcoyne did just that last Sunday as he played his part in the hammering of the Scottish pack.

Ireland were already 19-3 up in Yokohama when Kilcoyne and fellow prop Andrew Porter were introduced in the 49th minute ahead of a green scrum. Moments later, the Scots were retreating and referee Wayne Barnes’s arm was aloft to signal an Irish penalty.

Ten minutes later was better still as the replacement props, either side of captain Rory Best, drove Scotland back on their ball for a scrum against the head.

Kilcoyne’s current form this season has been red-hot. Following on from an excellent campaign with Munster in 2018-19, the Limerick loosehead put in a superb opening 45 minutes in Cardiff against Wales before being withdrawn and was excellent the following week off the bench in the return against the Grand Slam winners.

Last Sunday on his World Cup debut was further proof, and not just at the set-piece.

Kilcoyne has been in rampaging form in open play with no Ireland forward bettering his current tally of five defenders beaten since the start of the warm-up games in August.

No wonder starting loosehead Cian Healy wondered aloud this week that when it came to Kilcoyne claiming the number one jersey it was a matter of when rather than if.

Healy was perhaps being disingenuous but his rival is breathing hard down his neck.

“Yeah, hopefully,” Kilcoyne said today in Shizuoka. “That's a great compliment from Cian. I thought he played excellent at the weekend.

“That competition right throughout the squad pushes everyone and that's what the squad needs if we are to keep progressing in this competition. The more lads you have champing at the bit and giving coaches headaches the better for Irish rugby."

As for the scrum against the head, he added: “We played off it - there was probably a question mark, could we have kept it in and gone for penalty? But look, we went with what we felt on the day. Feeky (scrum coach Greg Feek) does a massive amount of work with the front rows, the back five and to get a turnover like that in an international game is huge. It was a big lift for the whole team.”

A huge boost also for the replacements who helped effect it. Ireland’s bench ensured there was barely a beat missed as Ireland transitioned smoothly into their endgame and did not look fragmented as the substitutions filtered in.

“We try to fit in first and all credit to the subs - I think they did that, they acquitted themselves well when they came on. The first-half performance, I thought lads put in an excellent shift especially up front, in the set-piece and around the fringes.

"The carries, Tadhg's try, the other try - it was (a case of) closing out the game by the time we got on - but happy to do it.”

Kilcoyne admits being part of a World Cup campaign having seen off Test Lion Jack McGrath for the second loosehead berth in the Ireland squad is a dream come true and meeting Japan this Saturday is another moment to savour.

“I suppose that's the beauty of a competition like the Rugby World Cup. It's most fellas' dreams and aspirations as a young fella growing up to be playing in a competition like this. To be playing the host nation on Saturday, it doesn't get much bigger than this. So I can't wait for it.”