Back on April 19th, Cian Healy didn’t even have half an eye on the announcement of the British & Irish Lions squad.
“I didn’t expect an awful lot,” he says. “You can’t expect a whole lot when you’re playing second fiddle.”
A certain Test starter back on the 2013 Lions Tour to Australia, Healy injured his ankle in a warm-up game and found himself flying home before the fun began. 25 at the time, Healy would have told himself there was always 2017 and a chance to go up against the All Blacks. He would have seen Jack McGrath coming but he would not have expected to be that second fiddle by the time 2017 came around.
Healy sat down with The Hard Yards and [from 20:20 below] spoke of how he got his groove back before reclaiming that Irish No.1 jersey.
With the Lions getting set for New Zealand, Healy packed his bags and headed to the USA and Japan with an Ireland squad that contained eight lads hoping to make their debut. The travelling press pack could be counted on one hand and there were massive sponsorship commitments. This is where the comeback would start.
Joe Schmidt noticed a Healy that was giving of his time, that was inclusive to the newcomers and who offered support and encouragement in training and in matches. There were green shoots of leadership emerging.
“I tried to make lads as comfortable as possible. There were a lot of lads that hadn’t toured before so it was just trying to reinforce stuff and make lads not so high strung. It’s only small stuff. I wasn’t coaching fellas or anything like that now.
“We weren’t really a cut apart group. Everyone went for coffees – forwards and backs – we didn’t separate ourselves into the heavies or anything like that.”
Healy started all three games as Schmidt kept faith with his pack and Ireland came home with a 3-0 winning record. Match fit and pleased with where he was at, the prop did not want to ease off. He took into a new lifestyle, diet and work-out routine that got him primed to start 2017/18 in close to peak condition.
“I didn’t wait for pre-season. I just tipped away on my own… I rented a cross-trainer and did a bit of fasted stuff in the morning [not eating until working out] and a bit of lifting [weights] in the gym down the road.
He adds, “I wanted to take all the outside opportunities I could to give myself a chance to get back in contention.”
Asked if his Leinster teammates noticed the new and improved Cian Healy when he showed up for pre-season, he remarks, “I wasn’t coming in ripped to shreds! I started from a nice level so I wasn’t having to get rid of a load of fat before we started. It was just making pre-season the most effective as I could.”
Added to the fasted cardio sessions, Healy began to eat only when he felt he needed too, rather than at set meal times, like 1pm and 6pm. He started three of Leinster’s first four league games but McGrath seemed to have jumped ahead of him when, in October, he returned to the fold.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcugvJnlt2m/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie
Healy got his chance in the Champions Cup clash with Glasgow Warriors and was park of a pack that was immense on the day. He scored two tries, including a morale-crushing score just on half-time, and has not looked back. November saw him start ahead of McGrath and Dave Kilcoyne for Ireland and it was like the Healy of old.
Leinster’s 18-8 win over Exeter Chiefs saw McGrath as back-up for a man getting back to his best. Leaner and meaner. Once again the Leinster pack was superb in an away day win but Healy is keen to show the home support what this side are capable of. He says:
“We’re going into Lansdowne Road with 40-odd-thousand Leinster supporters who’ll be going buck ape. It’s an insane buzz to be part of that and to be ab;e to represent that, and we really do have to put on a show. It’s not a burden; it’s an honour to be able to be the ones in that position.
“I was in that position before, watching games and going bananas. In Lansdowne, the last game I was at there [as a fan] was Leinster versus Ulster [New Years’ Eve 2006] and it’s some craic when your team gets up for it. Having been in that position as a fan, you want to create it as a player.”
Another Leinster win will make it four from four in their Champions Cup pool and help grow that belief that this could be one of those cup-winning years.
*More than 40,000 tickets for Leinster vs. Exeter Chiefs at the Aviva Stadium have been sold, but you can still get tickets at leinsterrugby.ie
