Dec 01,2024
Given how significant Australia has been in the ups and downs of Cian Healy's career, it’s quite appropriate that the loosehead prop will put his name into the Irish rugby record books against the Wallabies this afternoon.
When the 37-year-old steps out on to the pitch at Aviva Stadium, it will mark his 134th Test for Ireland, moving him clear of Brian O’Driscoll on Ireland’s all-time list.
Fittingly, it’s Australia who book-end those 134 internationals. Just over 15 years on from making his debut against the Wallabies in a 20-20 draw in November 2009, Healy gets to set an Irish record against the same opposition.
It was also against the Australians that Healy cemented himself as a truly world class loosehead in 2011, when he was named man of the match in Ireland’s 15-6 win in Auckland, famously dumping Quade Cooper onto his backside in the second half and coming up with a late turnover which ultimately iced the game.
Over the course of that 80 minutes, Healy was part of an Irish scrum that went through Australia like an enema, first taking apart Ben Alexander, before James Slipper came on in the second half.
In a neat twist, Slipper starts for the Wallabies this afternoon, albeit at loosehead rather than tighthead, winning his 143rd Wallabies cap.
"The old fella is still going, which is really good to see," Slipper, 35, said of Healy this week.
"He's a good character; he's been around a long time for the Ireland team and is one of those players that's well-respected across the world.
"I'm sure it's going to be a really special night for him and his family. I'll be looking out for him after the game to share a beer for sure."
Earlier this week, Ireland captain Caelan Doris went into the details of what he's seen Healy do to get his body right week-on-week in the latter stages of his career,
But as the only prop in history to have won more Test caps than Healy, Slipper can particularly relate to the work required to maintain such a long career in the trenches of international rugby.
"A few oil changes here and there, but I think you just have to be smart around how you prepare," Slipper added.
"I think longevity is more about being smart around your prep, your training and the recovery, but you also need to push at times, push through certain injuries or niggles. I'm sure Cian's done plenty of that over his long career."
Amid those highs, one of Healy’s lowest moments also came on Australian soil (below).
The Leinster man was 25 and arguably the best loosehead in the world at the time when he suffered a serious ankle injury early on the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour, which denied him the opportunity of featuring in the Test series against the Wallabies.
In his 17-year career, it’s only natural that he’s had to deal with his fair share of injuries, and a serious neck problem two years later almost ended his career.
The version of Healy in 2024 is quite different to the player that was a dynamic and destructive ball-carrier when he broke through when he made his Leinster debut in 2007.
"One of the things with Cian is that he is so agile. He was so dynamic as a young man when I first got to Leinster," said Australia coach Joe Schmidt, who worked with Healy both at Leinster and Ireland.
"Probably a memorable moment, we were playing Clermont in a European semi-final to make the final against Ulster and it was in Bordeaux, in France, you were up against it, Clermont were at the height of their powers.
"We played a set play with Isaac Boss going around the back, the pass from Richardt Strauss going to Rob Kearney; there's Cian on his shoulder trying to overtake him.
"He is that sort of athlete. He was lethal close to the line. The opposition couldn’t stop him and we couldn’t get the ball off him. He would just grab it, roll his sleeves up and do the work."
Ireland’s scrum coach John Fogarty (above) has seen every version; first as a team-mate of his at Leinster, before then becoming his coach at the province and more recently with the national side.
"When I got to Leinster, one of the things I was excited about was to be around someone like Cian," Fogarty said last week.
"A young guy coming through, so explosive, a little bit different to what was happening with looseheads across the country.
"He’s an exceptional guy. His mindset, his mentality is different than the majority. He’s an incredible competitor, and it sets him apart.
"He’s in no way slowing down mentally, he’s trying to learn from week to week, trying to grow and he’s competitive, so it’s incredible."
Part of the reason Healy’s career has lasted close to 420 games has been an adaptability and willingness to learn.
When Andrew Porter (below) was converted to a loosehead in the summer of 2021, many saw it as a sign that a then-33-year-old Healy was being put out to pasture, but he’s gone on to play 51 more games for Leinster and win 24 Irish caps, a number which would be even higher had he not missed the Rugby World Cup due to injury.
Some of those games have even come as a tighthead, a position Healy trained at when Porter switched to loosehead in 2021, while the second-half shift he put in at hooker during the Six Nations win away to Scotland in 2023 makes him one of a very small number who have played Test rugby across each of the front row positions.
"I'm in panic mode because the two hookers go down [against Scotland] and we're asking Cian to go into hooker, not knowing what's going to happen," Fogarty added.
"But he's clear in his mind he's going to be competitive.
"To step into an international rugby game as a hooker, it says so much about him – we got two scrum penalties that day on the back of Cian playing at hooker"
"He’s not done yet."
