INTO THE DEEP
Injuries mean Ireland must delve into reserves but Porter is ready
IF it’s to be the full pint of Porter at the Aviva against Wales then there’s confidence in Ireland camp that an “unmatched” depth will keep title hopes on track.
Eight tries and a bonus point romp against Italy on Saturday put Joe Schmidt’s side on top of the Six Nations table with three games to play.
But it also threw up some potential roadblocks to winning the championship as Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Furlong suffered injuries.
Schmidt believes Furlong could still face the Welsh, who lost to England in a tight affair at Twickenham, but that depends on how badly the top class tighthead strained his hamstring. If it’s a bad pull then Andrew Porter, who switched from loosehead to the pivotal tighthead role in the front row just two seasons ago, will make his first Six Nations start on Saturday week.
“My confidence levels have grown in the position,” stressed Porter
(inset), speaking after the Italy game.
However, Henshaw’s championship race looks to be run after suffering a suspected dislocated shoulder as he grounded the fifth try of the game at Lansdowne Road.
With Josh van der Flier suffering a season-ending knee injury against France in the opener, the injuries are beginning to rack up as Ireland look forward to a training week in Athlone before gearing up for Wales.
But Porter, who made his Six Nations bow as Furlong’s fourth minute replacement, insists the resources are deep enough now to absorb the losses. “Definitely,” said the 22-year-old. “Our strength in depth is something we pride ourselves on and it’s kind of unmatched by any other team.
“It’s terrible to see two of your team-mates going down like that but our strength in depth is incredible.”
It’s a bold statement given the amount of casualties Wales
successfully overcame in their opener against Scotland and given the injury list England is coping with.
Porter expanded: “Like we saw last week, we saw Josh van der Flier going down and Dan Leavy stepping up. We have that almost across the board in each position.”
After Ireland were fatally weakened going into the Argentina quarter-final at the last World Cup, Schmidt has made it his mission to ensure that the quality below his first-choice picks is strong enough to cope with absentees.
The good news is that Sean O’brien may be fit enough to return for the Wales game – that would make for an interesting reunion with Warren Gatland after his post-lions comments.
The bad news is that with Henshaw set to miss out, that fixture will most likely come a week too early for Garry Ringrose to return to the centre.
That will leave Schmidt to rely on the Bundee Aki-chris Farrell partnership that has got one outing so far, albeit they did well against Argentina in November.
But Porter believes it’s premature to speculate if he will start against the Welsh. “Ah, it’s a bit early to be saying that,” he said. “I’ll be prepared as best I can. It would be very exciting.
“I can only dream of starting Test matches for Ireland. I was a bit shocked to be coming on after three minutes but that’s what Joe has us prepared for.”