Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE’RE ALL SET FOR THIS WAR
Healy insists 1 to 15 is behind the new skipper
IT won’t be a Cheesy Single at Twickenham today as Cian Healy vows his team-mates will follow the skipper into war.
James Ryan – nicknamed Cheese – takes over a daunting role against the losing World Cup finalists in the absence of Johnny Sexton.
With a fresh half-back Test partnership and a new captain it would be a big upset i if Irel and were to l eav e L London with a second Autumn Nat Nations Cup victory following last week’s victory at home to Wales.
But Healy, 33, is delighted that 24-year-old Ryan gets the chance to take on a role that he seems long destined for.
“Every leader needs a follower and I’m that guy,” said Healy. “I’ ll follow him into any war.
“It’s super. He’s put in a lot of work. I ’ve roomed with him a couple of times in the past and you see him in his diary at night time, taking a lot of notes and planning his day.
“He definitely has the head on him for that sort of control and organisation.
“I was very, very different to him. I didn’t do much note-taking or any of that when I was younger. I was very much show up, play ball, go home.
“I never had myself down as the leader or captain type so I was happy to hear that sort of stuff from the lads and do the best job possible with what I know – my physical area, my strength in that, my scrum, my set-piece.
“It’s bad for us that Johnny can’t be involved as he’s a great leader.
“But to have someone like Cheese step in and get his first shot at it, I think it’s brilliant and there’s no shortage of lads around him to help him out as well.”
Healy (below) is optimistic that Ireland’s pack will front up in a way they haven’t in the last three meetings of the sides, which resulted in a trio of easy victories for the Red Rose.
Much has been made of Ireland’s need to be more dominant and Healy admits England’s power game has caught the men in green out before – as did Saracens’ display in the recent Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster.
The veteran Blues loosehead saw the green shoots of a more unified scrum approach a gain st Wal e s with a “full eight buy-in”.
But asked where he thinks
Ireland must be better,
Healy replied: “Across the board? Well, definitely nailing our set-piece has to be a given, we can’t have simple lineouts or simple scrums go astray from us.
“You just feel like you’re being outpowered (in the scrum) and that’s a pretty s*** feeling, one you don’t want to get too often.
“Apart from that it is the physical side of the game, we need to front up, we can’t be bullied in that area. We need to get some front foot ball and some dominant contacts in the tackle area as well. Their power game is very strong.”
But there is absolutely no apprehension about facing last year’s beaten World Cup finalists.
“The bigger game the bigger the buzz,” smiled Healy. “No, I’d be delighted to be involved in any of them and get to have a go. They’ve been playing good ball. I want to put in a good performance and that’s the type of thing that gets me excited. “I could understand others having some form of apprehension having lost to them in the past but across the board in here it seems people are buzzed about it, looking forward to it and excited.”