Michael Bent trains with the Ireland squad in New Zealand

80 MINUTE MAN: Ireland’s Andrew Porter with James Ryan. Porter played all 80 minutes on Saturday. Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Ireland’s front row merry-go-round kept spinning over the weekend as reinforcements arrived, rapid recoveries were made and a friendly face reappeared to assist the tourists ahead of the first Test.

It was a tumultuous week for the Irish on tour in New Zealand with two games in four games and it was the props and hookers who bore the brunt of the exertions against two immensely physical teams in the shape of the Maori All Blacks and the home Test side.

Hooker Rob Herring was sidelined with a calf problem all week prompting the arrival of Niall Scannell, who found himself facing the Maori off the bench in Hamilton last Wednesday 48 hours after sunning himself on an Algarve beach in Portugal.

That same match saw loosehead Jeremy Loughman concussed and stood down for the mandatory 12 days, only for his replacement, Cian Healy to sustain a nasty looking ankle injury in the second half.

By this time Healy’s Leinster colleague Ed Byrne was departing Dublin as loosehead cover, while the injured party was busy recovering fast enough to be named on the bench, though he would remain unused as starter Andrew Porter played the full 80 minutes.

While all this was happening, Byrne found himself grounded in Doha, Qatar, for long enough to miss Saturday’s first Test. So when Finlay Bealham was forced to withdraw from the Eden Park bench having tested positive for Covid on Saturday, even head coach Andy Farrell was struggling to stay up to speed.

“There’s that much that’s gone on over the last 10 days, I can’t keep up it with myself,” Farrell said.

“So, Finlay gets Covid, Cian is nursing a bit of an ankle, he’s passed fit yesterday so there’s no problem there. Obviously Jeremy is concussed, Ed Byrne’s on his way over, should have arrived this morning, his flight’s delayed, he can’t get to the game.” 

There was still one card for the Irish management left to play and it came in the form of 36-year-old Michael Bent. Declan Kidney had lured the Irish-qualified prop from the Hurricanes and straight onto the bench for the November 2012 Test against South Africa. It was the first of four caps and the start of a nine-year, 155-game Leinster career that ended last summer.

His now represents Taranaki in the National Provincial Championship here but was back in an Irish training kit, standing in for Byrne in helping the matchday squad warm up at Eden Park.

“Michael Bent’s an hour and a half away on a flight so a phone call to him, he was over in a couple of hours and he was delighted and the boys were delighted to see him as well,” Farrell said. “I can’t thank him enough.

“His career started with flying over to Ireland, getting off the plane and before he played for Leinster, playing for Ireland against South Africa. Imagine finishing your career the way that he’s just done. What a story.” 

Byrne has now arrived in Auckland will soon be joined by centre Stuart McCloskey as a replacement for Ulster team-mate James Hume, who suffered a tour-ending groin injury against the Maori.

Johnny Sexton will today (Monday) undergo his third stage of the return to play process following a head injury sustained in the first Test with Farrell hopeful the 36-year-old fly-half and captain can pass fit for the second Test, despite appearing to have failed his initial Head Injury Assessment on Saturday.

Farrell on Saturday suggested Sexton would not necessarily be subjected to the new standdown period of 12 days for a concussion as he had passed a subsequent HIA post-match.

“Johnny’s good. He’s just passed his HIA2 so he’s got a HIA3 to do in the next couple of days and he’s in good form in there."

The Ireland boss was asked why his captain had not returned to the game if he had passed the HIA2 second stage and replied: "Because they tested him and deemed him not fit to go on because there's all different sort of tests that go on. You can stumble in your studs, you know, and not go off."

Replacement hooker Dave Heffernan will however definitely miss the second Test after the Connacht man was withdrawn three minutes after coming on for Dan Sheehan with symptoms clear enough not to require an HIA. Herring is due to return to training this week ahead of the second Test.