Cian Healy

All current and ex-hookers that took pride in the fact we played a specialist position on the rugby field will have to lie low for a while.

The winning of the game for me involved Healy and Van der Flier heavily. Sexton kicked to touch and Van der Flier found O’Mahony at the lineout. While the hit has gone out of the game there is huge pressure on the hooker to balance his scrum pre-engagement through using his ‘brake foot’. So, the foot is acting as a brake on ‘axial loading’ and is incredibly important from a safety point of view. Having Healy being listed as a possible option at hooker meant that when Kelleher had to go off we didn’t have to go to uncontested scrums and drop a man to play 14 against 15. This is very rare in the professional game and was significant in our win.