Cian Healy adapting to life as a finisher

Cian Healy's minutes have dwindled as this Six Nations has gone on but he has learned to adjust expectations

Cian Healy at Ireland Rugby Open Training, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 3/2/2022

Cian Healy enjoyed Paris. If much of the focus before Ireland's trip there last month centred on how guys like Hugo Keenan had never played a big away game in front of a partisan crowd before, then his Leinster teammate was only too happy to plug into the reanimated vibes that accompanied his sixth engagement in Saint-Denis.

It was the little things. Going for a coffee and spotting the green jerseys on the streets and in the shops. That he could still appreciate it all having played for just the last 17 minutes is no minor detail. Adapting to the role of impact player – finisher, if you like - has not been easy.

Healy had been an almost automatic choice to start at loosehead, aside from a period in the middle of the last decade when his career was almost ended with injury and Jack McGrath usurped him for club and country.

That has changed this season for a man who made his debut back in 2009 and now has 114 caps. His last start in green was a year ago against Scotland, the last five caps have come off the bench, and his minutes have actually dwindled as this Six Nations has gone on.

“I struggled with it in November and I was getting a bit pissed off with coming on a bit later and stuff. But it’s probably from the structure at Leinster and understanding at Leinster that you’re probably going to get 50/30 (minutes) and that’s literally week-in, week-out. I had probably expectations of that instead of going in fairly open-minded about it.

“I did have to take a step back and think about what the role is and what do I have to deliver. I was honest with myself and I was letting it get at me so I just parked it because if I’m thinking about what minute it is in the game and am I on yet, I’m not really thinking about what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m doing myself an injustice and the team an injustice.

“So it was a hard-enough sit-down but I enjoyed the process of ironing it out and coming to a decision on how I’m approaching it and I think it’s done me fairly well so far, since then.” 

Andrew Porter’s recent injury and subsequent unavailability for the last two championship games, against England and Scotland, will afford Healy the opportunity to pad out his involvement but he isn’t the only man thinking that way.

It could well be that Dave Kilcoyne, who came on as a replacement for Porter against Italy last time out, gets the nod to start and the Munster man certainly has a greater body of work behind him this season.

Healy has made one start for Leinster since the start of December. All nine of Kilcoyne’s appearances at provincial level have come from the first whistle.

“I’m in a spicy battle now with Killer for the week,” Healy admitted.

If getting his head around his new reality was a struggle for him then the physical challenge was a lot easier. Paul O’Connell described him this week as something of a secret trainer and he is clearly an old dog who delights in learning new tricks.

Cold therapy, mobility and general fitness have been three key pillars for him lately. Catch him of a regular evening on the couch and he is just as likely to be looking up recovery and rehab strategies on his phone as he is Twitter or Instagram.

Every little helps but it will be late next week before he knows if that all pays off in the shape of a starter’s jersey in Twickenham. He’s fine with that. Comfortable in the knowledge that he is doing all he can and uninterested in trying to read the tea leaves for signs.

“I think I’d be very silly to have a sense of anything (about the team selection). That’s what years have taught me. No, I’m training hard, you put your best foot forward and go for it.” 

Johnny Sexton revealed lately that the thought of never facing France in a Six Nations game in Paris again crossed his mind when injury ruled him out of that round two encounter last month. Healy isn’t in that sort of head space just yet.

A recently-penned contract will bring him up to the end of next season and the summer of 2024 and, while he has contemplated the closing of this chapter in his life, it’s not an end point that is consuming him for now.

“No, you think about it. Like, you would be silly not to think about what you want to do after rugby, especially at this fine age I am. Yeah, I think about it. It is in mind and I kind of flesh through a few bits.

“But my main focus is the game and enjoy every minute in it. Then when I get some spare time and the opportunity comes I can start to work on something that might just burn in the background until I want to step into it.”