Cups not caps the focus for the evergreen Cian Healy

'I'd take another five if I got some more silverware for it, instead of another 20. I think a cap number without reward is not so important,' Healy said on Wednesday.

PRIORITIES: Cian Healy during Ireland rugby squad training at IRFU High Performance Centre. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Cian Healy is 14 appearances shy of Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s most capped player. 

That’s exactly the number of games that lie between the national team and what would be a first ever World Cup semi-final slot in France next year.

It’s unlikely the veteran loosehead will feature in all of them, and it’s unknown as of yet if he is contracted beyond France 2023, but even the vague possibility of emulating the iconic No.13 is within his reach, if not his thoughts.

“I could have 200 caps and no medals and I know where I'd be happier,” Healy said on Wednesday. “I'd take another five if I got some more silverware for it, instead of another 20. I think a cap number without reward is not so important.” 

He has 119 of them now, most earned as a starter, but has had to adapt to life off the bench in latter years since Andrew Porter swapped back from the tight. That hasn’t always been straightforward.

Healy began to cut back on his calories given his reduced game time as a replacement but found that he was running on empty come the final whistle. So the intake has increased again and any leftovers are worked off in the gym or on a bike.

Every day is a learning day.

Finlay Bealham knows a thing or two about the second wave.

The Connacht tighthead has earned four of his 26 caps as a reserve. It's hardly surprising given Tadhg Furlong is ahead of him in the queue but a rare chance to wear the No.3 shirt approaches this weekend with Fiji in town.

The perceived gap in quality between Furlong and Bealham has been a concern for some time but the latter’s display in the second-half against the Springboks on Saturday suggested that any chasm may have been more imagined than real.

With the Leinster player off due to an ankle problem, Bealham won two scrum penalties against one of the world’s most physically imposing packs. It was a monster effort even if the man himself was too humble to blow his own trumpet.

Andy Farrell said after Saturday’s game that the Aussie-born front row has been making serious improvements to his game for the last 18 months and Healy was more than happy to add to the notes of praise.

“I think it's longer than that. He's had his targets and things he's been working on for a good bit longer, and you've seen the progression. I've felt it having to go against him in scrums, and then his play around the park.

“He's become one of the cogs that makes it all work pretty well. He's been a natural fit. It doesn't look like he's trying to do something that isn't his style, he's just a natural and it's really good to see.” Healy is 34 now but, while he has adjusted to the reality of his place further down the pecking order, there is no hint of acceptance that this should be his lot for good. Not striving to start would be anathema to the man.

Bealham’s situation may seem a fait accompli. Furlong is regarded as the best tighthead in the game, a man whose physical presence is allied to a sublime handling game and one who is now a member of the national team’s leadership group.

But that doesn’t mean Bealham won’t challenge.

“Of course you're always pushing," said the 31-year old. 

"Like Church said, you want to be the best version of yourself. Tadhg's obviously a world-class player and he's a British (and Irish) Lion and everything like that but I need to be pushing him and making him better and making myself better.

“I wouldn't see myself as a back-up player. I can fill that role and I keep pushing myself and finding new limits to where I can go and see what happens.” 

The challenge for Bealham and Healy and the rest of the squad this week is to maintain the momentum that the collective brought in to the November window and built on with that three-point defeat of South Africa last Saturday.

Fiji provide a very different proposition. A strong start in Scotland last weekend faded away second-half and fed into a 16-point defeat and Ireland will be expected to deal with them comfortably enough before moving on to the Australia tie seven days later.

There is danger in that.

Ireland have struggled against so-called ‘weaker’ opponents in Novembers past and lack of talent is not one of the reasons the Pacific Islanders cannot match the very best. They will certainly be better prepared for the extra week in camp.

Healy knows all this.

“We have a standard of what's acceptable and what we want to achieve and go above and it's not acceptable to let that slip.

“What's not respectful is to let that slip also. We need to respect our opposition and what they're going to bring and by doing that we need to bring our A-game and put out our best performance.

“With that mentality, you can use it across the board for whoever you play against.”